Rigorous high-precision enclosures of fixed points and their invariant manifolds

Science.gov (United States)

Wittig, Alexander N.

The well established concept of Taylor Models is introduced, which offer highly accurate C0 enclosures of functional dependencies, combining high-order polynomial approximation of functions and rigorous estimates of the truncation error, performed using verified arithmetic. The focus of this work is on the application of Taylor Models in algorithms for strongly non-linear dynamical systems. A method is proposed to extend the existing implementation of Taylor Models in COSY INFINITY from double precision coefficients to arbitrary precision coefficients. Great care is taken to maintain the highest efficiency possible by adaptively adjusting the precision of higher order coefficients in the polynomial expansion. High precision operations are based on clever combinations of elementary floating point operations yielding exact values for round-off errors. An experimental high precision interval data type is developed and implemented. Algorithms for the verified computation of intrinsic functions based on the High Precision Interval datatype are developed and described in detail. The application of these operations in the implementation of High Precision Taylor Models is discussed. An application of Taylor Model methods to the verification of fixed points is presented by verifying the existence of a period 15 fixed point in a near standard Henon map. Verification is performed using different verified methods such as double precision Taylor Models, High Precision intervals and High Precision Taylor Models. Results and performance of each method are compared. An automated rigorous fixed point finder is implemented, allowing the fully automated search for all fixed points of a function within a given domain. It returns a list of verified enclosures of each fixed point, optionally verifying uniqueness within these enclosures. An application of the fixed point finder to the rigorous analysis of beam transfer maps in accelerator physics is presented. Previous work done by

Forensic Analysis of Blue Ball point Pen Inks on Questioned Documents by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography Technique (HPTLC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, L.C.; Siti Mariam Nunurung; Abdul Aziz Ishak

2014-01-01

Nowadays, crimes related to forged documents are increasing. Any erasure, addition or modification in the document content always involves the use of writing instrument such as ball point pens. Hence, there is an evident need to develop a fast and accurate ink analysis protocol to solve this problem. This study is aimed to determine the discrimination power of high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique for analyzing a set of blue ball point pen inks. Ink samples deposited on paper were extracted using methanol and separated via a solvent mixture of ethyl acetate, methanol and distilled water (70: 35: 30, v/ v/ v). In this method, the discrimination power of 89.40 % was achieved, which confirm that the proposed method was able to differentiate a significant number of pen-pair samples. In addition, composition of blue pen inks was found to be homogeneous (RSD < 2.5 %) and the proposed method showed good repeatability and reproducibility (RSD < 3. 0%). As a conclusion, HPTLC is an effective tool to separate blue ball point pen inks. (author)

Experimental investigation of a super performance dew point air cooler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Peng; Ma, Xiaoli; Zhao, Xudong; Fancey, Kevin

2017-01-01

Highlights: •The cooler had a complex heat & mass exchanger with an advanced wet material layer. •Intermittent water supply scheme was implemented. •The cooler achieved 100–160% higher COP compared to the existing dew point coolers. •Electricity use of the cooler was reduced by 50–70% compared to existing dew coolers. •This optimal working air ratio was 0.364 that enabled maximised cooling effectiveness. -- Abstract: This paper presents an experimental investigation of a super performance dew point air cooler which, by employing a super performance wet material layer, innovative heat and mass exchanger and intermittent water supply scheme, has achieved a significantly higher energy efficiency (i.e. Coefficient of Performance, COP) and a much lower electrical energy use compared to the existing air coolers of the same type. This involves the dedicated system design & construction, fully planned experimental testing under various simulated climatic conditions representing the climate of hot & dry, warm & dry, moderate, warm & humid and standard lab testing condition, testing results analysis and discussion, as well as the parallel comparison against the commercial dew point air cooler. Under the standard test condition, i.e. dry bulb temperature of 37.8 °C and coincident wet bulb temperature of 21.1 °C, the prototype cooler achieved the wet-bulb cooling effectiveness of 114% and dew-point cooling effectiveness of 75%, yielding a significantly high COP value of 52.5 at the optimal working air ratio of 0.364. The testing also indicated that the lower inlet air relative humidity led to a higher cooling efficiency, while the lower cooling output helped increase COP and cooling effectiveness (including the wet-bulb effectiveness and dew-point effectiveness) of the cooler.

High-performance computing using FPGAs

CERN Document Server

Benkrid, Khaled

2013-01-01

This book is concerned with the emerging field of High Performance Reconfigurable Computing (HPRC), which aims to harness the high performance and relative low power of reconfigurable hardware–in the form Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)–in High Performance Computing (HPC) applications. It presents the latest developments in this field from applications, architecture, and tools and methodologies points of view. We hope that this work will form a reference for existing researchers in the field, and entice new researchers and developers to join the HPRC community.  The book includes:  Thirteen application chapters which present the most important application areas tackled by high performance reconfigurable computers, namely: financial computing, bioinformatics and computational biology, data search and processing, stencil computation e.g. computational fluid dynamics and seismic modeling, cryptanalysis, astronomical N-body simulation, and circuit simulation.     Seven architecture chapters which...

The effect of high leverage points on the logistic ridge regression estimator having multicollinearity

Science.gov (United States)

Ariffin, Syaiba Balqish; Midi, Habshah

2014-06-01

This article is concerned with the performance of logistic ridge regression estimation technique in the presence of multicollinearity and high leverage points. In logistic regression, multicollinearity exists among predictors and in the information matrix. The maximum likelihood estimator suffers a huge setback in the presence of multicollinearity which cause regression estimates to have unduly large standard errors. To remedy this problem, a logistic ridge regression estimator is put forward. It is evident that the logistic ridge regression estimator outperforms the maximum likelihood approach for handling multicollinearity. The effect of high leverage points are then investigated on the performance of the logistic ridge regression estimator through real data set and simulation study. The findings signify that logistic ridge regression estimator fails to provide better parameter estimates in the presence of both high leverage points and multicollinearity.

Multiview 3D sensing and analysis for high quality point cloud reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Satnik, Andrej; Izquierdo, Ebroul; Orjesek, Richard

2018-04-01

Multiview 3D reconstruction techniques enable digital reconstruction of 3D objects from the real world by fusing different viewpoints of the same object into a single 3D representation. This process is by no means trivial and the acquisition of high quality point cloud representations of dynamic 3D objects is still an open problem. In this paper, an approach for high fidelity 3D point cloud generation using low cost 3D sensing hardware is presented. The proposed approach runs in an efficient low-cost hardware setting based on several Kinect v2 scanners connected to a single PC. It performs autocalibration and runs in real-time exploiting an efficient composition of several filtering methods including Radius Outlier Removal (ROR), Weighted Median filter (WM) and Weighted Inter-Frame Average filtering (WIFA). The performance of the proposed method has been demonstrated through efficient acquisition of dense 3D point clouds of moving objects.

Sprint performance and propulsion asymmetries on an ergometer in trained high- and low-point wheelchair rugby players.

Science.gov (United States)

Goosey-Tolfrey, V L; Vegter, R J K; Mason, B S; Paulson, T A W; Lenton, J P; van der Scheer, J W; van der Woude, L H V

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the propulsion asymmetries of wheelchair athletes while sprinting on an instrumented, dual-roller ergometer system. Eighteen experienced wheelchair rugby players (8 low point (LP) (class ≤1.5) and 10 high point (HP) (class ≥2.0)) performed a 15-second sprint in their sports wheelchair on the instrumented ergometer. Asymmetry was defined as the difference in distance and power output (PO) between left and right sides when the best side reached 28 m. Propulsion techniques were quantified based on torque and velocity data. HP players covered an average 3 m further than the LP players (P = .002) and achieved faster sprint times than LP players (6.95 ± 0.89 vs 8.03 ± 0.68 seconds, P = .005) and at the time the best player finished (5.96 seconds). Higher peak POs (667 ± 108 vs 357 ± 78 W, P = .0001) and greater peak speeds that were also evident were for HP players (4.80 ± 0.71 vs 4.09 ± 0.45 m/s, P = .011). Greater asymmetries were found in HP players for distance (1.86 ± 1.43 vs 0.70 ± 0.65 m, P = .016), absolute peak PO (P = .049), and speed (0.35 ± 0.25 vs 0.11 ± 0.10 m/s, P = .009). Although HP players had faster sprint times over 28 m (achieved by a higher PO), high standard deviations show the heterogeneity within the two groups (eg, some LP players were better than HP players). Quantification of asymmetries is important not only for classifiers but also for sports practitioners wishing to improve performance as they could be addressed through training and/or wheelchair configuration. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Performance assessment of Point Lepreau Generating Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alikhan, S.

1991-01-01

The Point Lepreau Generating Station, a 680 MWe CANDU unit, is located about 40 km southwest of the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It was declared in-service on 1 February, 1983 and, since then, has demonstrated an average cross capacity factor of over 93% up to the end of 1990. This paper compared the performance of the station with other sister CANDU units and the Light Water Reactors world-wide using the following ten performance indicators, as applicable: - gross capacity factor; - fuel burn-up; - heavy water upkeep; - unplanned reactor trips while critical; - forced outage rate; - fuel handling performance; - derived emission of radioactive effluents to environment; - personnel radiation dose; - industrial safety; - low-level solid radioactive wastes. The paper examines various areas of station activities including management and organization, operations and maintenance, technical support, fuel handling and health physics in order to highlight some of the 'good practices' which are believed to have made a significant contribution towards achieving the demonstrated performance of Point Lepreau G.S. In addition, several areas of potential improvement are discussed in order to maintain and enhance, where practicable, the safety, reliability and economic performance of the station. In this context, a careful review of the operating experiences, both in-house and at other stations, and a judicious application of lessons learned plays a significant role. (author)

Performance assessment of Point Lepreau Generating Station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alikhan, S [Point Lepreau Generating Station, Lepreau, NB (Canada)

1991-04-01

The Point Lepreau Generating Station, a 680 MWe CANDU unit, is located about 40 km southwest of the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It was declared in-service on 1 February, 1983 and, since then, has demonstrated an average cross capacity factor of over 93% up to the end of 1990. This paper compared the performance of the station with other sister CANDU units and the Light Water Reactors world-wide using the following ten performance indicators, as applicable: - gross capacity factor; - fuel burn-up; - heavy water upkeep; - unplanned reactor trips while critical; - forced outage rate; - fuel handling performance; - derived emission of radioactive effluents to environment; - personnel radiation dose; - industrial safety; - low-level solid radioactive wastes. The paper examines various areas of station activities including management and organization, operations and maintenance, technical support, fuel handling and health physics in order to highlight some of the 'good practices' which are believed to have made a significant contribution towards achieving the demonstrated performance of Point Lepreau G.S. In addition, several areas of potential improvement are discussed in order to maintain and enhance, where practicable, the safety, reliability and economic performance of the station. In this context, a careful review of the operating experiences, both in-house and at other stations, and a judicious application of lessons learned plays a significant role. (author)

Strategy Guideline. Partnering for High Performance Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prahl, Duncan [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2013-01-01

High performance houses require a high degree of coordination and have significant interdependencies between various systems in order to perform properly, meet customer expectations, and minimize risks for the builder. Responsibility for the key performance attributes is shared across the project team and can be well coordinated through advanced partnering strategies. For high performance homes, traditional partnerships need to be matured to the next level and be expanded to all members of the project team including trades, suppliers, manufacturers, HERS raters, designers, architects, and building officials as appropriate. This guide is intended for use by all parties associated in the design and construction of high performance homes. It serves as a starting point and features initial tools and resources for teams to collaborate to continually improve the energy efficiency and durability of new houses.

Performance testing of 3D point cloud software

Science.gov (United States)

Varela-González, M.; González-Jorge, H.; Riveiro, B.; Arias, P.

2013-10-01

LiDAR systems are being used widely in recent years for many applications in the engineering field: civil engineering, cultural heritage, mining, industry and environmental engineering. One of the most important limitations of this technology is the large computational requirements involved in data processing, especially for large mobile LiDAR datasets. Several software solutions for data managing are available in the market, including open source suites, however, users often unknown methodologies to verify their performance properly. In this work a methodology for LiDAR software performance testing is presented and four different suites are studied: QT Modeler, VR Mesh, AutoCAD 3D Civil and the Point Cloud Library running in software developed at the University of Vigo (SITEGI). The software based on the Point Cloud Library shows better results in the loading time of the point clouds and CPU usage. However, it is not as strong as commercial suites in working set and commit size tests.

Performance testing of 3D point cloud software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Varela-González

2013-10-01

Full Text Available LiDAR systems are being used widely in recent years for many applications in the engineering field: civil engineering, cultural heritage, mining, industry and environmental engineering. One of the most important limitations of this technology is the large computational requirements involved in data processing, especially for large mobile LiDAR datasets. Several software solutions for data managing are available in the market, including open source suites, however, users often unknown methodologies to verify their performance properly. In this work a methodology for LiDAR software performance testing is presented and four different suites are studied: QT Modeler, VR Mesh, AutoCAD 3D Civil and the Point Cloud Library running in software developed at the University of Vigo (SITEGI. The software based on the Point Cloud Library shows better results in the loading time of the point clouds and CPU usage. However, it is not as strong as commercial suites in working set and commit size tests.

High flash point electrolyte for use in lithium-ion batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Isken, P.; Dippel, C.; Schmitz, R.; Schmitz, R.W.; Kunze, M.; Passerini, S.; Winter, M. [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Westfaelische Wilhelms-University Muenster, Corrensstrasse 28/30, 48149 Muenster (Germany); Lex-Balducci, A., E-mail: a.lex-balducci@uni-muenster.de [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Westfaelische Wilhelms-University Muenster, Corrensstrasse 28/30, 48149 Muenster (Germany)

2011-09-01

Highlights: > Substitution of linear carbonates in conventional electrolytes with adiponitrile allows the realization of high flash point electrolytes. > EC:ADN based electrolytes display a higher anodic stability than a conventional electrolyte based on EC:DEC. > Graphite and NCM electrodes used in combination with the EC:ADN based electrolyte display a performance comparable with that of conventional electrolytes. - Abstract: The high flash point solvent adiponitrile (ADN) was investigated as co-solvent with ethylene carbonate (EC) for use as lithium-ion battery electrolyte. The flash point of this solvent mixture was more than 110 deg. C higher than that of conventional electrolyte solutions involving volatile linear carbonate components, such as diethyl carbonate (DEC) or dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The electrolyte based on EC:ADN (1:1 wt) with lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF{sub 4}) displayed a conductivity of 2.6 mS cm{sup -1} and no aluminum corrosion. In addition, it showed higher anodic stability on a Pt electrode than the standard electrolyte 1 M lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF{sub 6}) in EC:DEC (3:7 wt). Graphite/Li half cells using this electrolyte showed excellent rate capability up to 5C and good cycling stability (more than 98% capacity retention after 50 cycles at 1C). Additionally, the electrolyte was investigated in NCM/Li half cells. The cells were able to reach a capacity of 104 mAh g{sup -1} at 5C and capacity retention of more than 97% after 50 cycles. These results show that an electrolyte with a considerably increased flash point with respect to common electrolyte systems comprising linear carbonates, could be realized without any negative effects on the electrochemical performance in Li-half cells.

Adaptive aspirations and performance heterogeneity : Attention allocation among multiple reference points

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blettner, D.P.; He, Z.; Hu, S.; Bettis, R.

Organizations learn and adapt their aspiration levels based on reference points (prior aspiration, prior performance, and prior performance of reference groups). The relative attention that organizations allocate to these reference points impacts organizational search and strategic decisions.

Pointing Device Performance in Steering Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Senanayake, Ransalu; Goonetilleke, Ravindra S

2016-06-01

Use of touch-screen-based interactions is growing rapidly. Hence, knowing the maneuvering efficacy of touch screens relative to other pointing devices is of great importance in the context of graphical user interfaces. Movement time, accuracy, and user preferences of four pointing device settings were evaluated on a computer with 14 participants aged 20.1 ± 3.13 years. It was found that, depending on the difficulty of the task, the optimal settings differ for ballistic and visual control tasks. With a touch screen, resting the arm increased movement time for steering tasks. When both performance and comfort are considered, whether to use a mouse or a touch screen for person-computer interaction depends on the steering difficulty. Hence, a input device should be chosen based on the application, and should be optimized to match the graphical user interface. © The Author(s) 2016.

One-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feyereisen, Michael R.; Ando, Shin' ichiro [GRAPPA Institute, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tamborra, Irene, E-mail: m.r.feyereisen@uva.nl, E-mail: tamborra@nbi.ku.dk, E-mail: s.ando@uva.nl [Niels Bohr International Academy, Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)

2017-03-01

We perform the first one-point fluctuation analysis of the high-energy neutrino sky. This method reveals itself to be especially suited to contemporary neutrino data, as it allows to study the properties of the astrophysical components of the high-energy flux detected by the IceCube telescope, even with low statistics and in the absence of point source detection. Besides the veto-passing atmospheric foregrounds, we adopt a simple model of the high-energy neutrino background by assuming two main extra-galactic components: star-forming galaxies and blazars. By leveraging multi-wavelength data from Herschel and Fermi , we predict the spectral and anisotropic probability distributions for their expected neutrino counts in IceCube. We find that star-forming galaxies are likely to remain a diffuse background due to the poor angular resolution of IceCube, and we determine an upper limit on the number of shower events that can reasonably be associated to blazars. We also find that upper limits on the contribution of blazars to the measured flux are unfavourably affected by the skewness of the blazar flux distribution. One-point event clustering and likelihood analyses of the IceCube HESE data suggest that this method has the potential to dramatically improve over more conventional model-based analyses, especially for the next generation of neutrino telescopes.

Automatic Energy Schemes for High Performance Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sundriyal, Vaibhav [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2013-01-01

Although high-performance computing traditionally focuses on the efficient execution of large-scale applications, both energy and power have become critical concerns when approaching exascale. Drastic increases in the power consumption of supercomputers affect significantly their operating costs and failure rates. In modern microprocessor architectures, equipped with dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) and CPU clock modulation (throttling), the power consumption may be controlled in software. Additionally, network interconnect, such as Infiniband, may be exploited to maximize energy savings while the application performance loss and frequency switching overheads must be carefully balanced. This work first studies two important collective communication operations, all-to-all and allgather and proposes energy saving strategies on the per-call basis. Next, it targets point-to-point communications to group them into phases and apply frequency scaling to them to save energy by exploiting the architectural and communication stalls. Finally, it proposes an automatic runtime system which combines both collective and point-to-point communications into phases, and applies throttling to them apart from DVFS to maximize energy savings. The experimental results are presented for NAS parallel benchmark problems as well as for the realistic parallel electronic structure calculations performed by the widely used quantum chemistry package GAMESS. Close to the maximum energy savings were obtained with a substantially low performance loss on the given platform.

Influence of hinge point on flexible flap aerodynamic performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, H Y; Ye, Z; Wu, P; Li, C

2013-01-01

Large scale wind turbines lead to increasing blade lengths and weights, which presents new challenges for blade design. This paper selects NREL S809 airfoil, uses the parameterized technology to realize the flexible trailing edge deformation, researches the static aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine blade airfoil with flexible deformation, and the dynamic aerodynamic characteristics in the process of continuous deformation, analyses the influence of hinge point position on flexible flap aerodynamic performance, in order to further realize the flexible wind turbine blade design and provides some references for the active control scheme. The results show that compared with the original airfoil, proper trailing edge deformation can improve the lift coefficient, reduce the drag coefficient, and thereby more efficiently realize flow field active control. With hinge point moving forward, total aerodynamic performance of flexible flap improves. Positive swing angle can push the transition point backward, thus postpones the occurrence of the transition phenomenon

Performance of Closely Spaced Point Absorbers with Constrained Floater Motion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Backer, G.; Vantorre, M.; Beels, C.

2009-01-01

The performance of a wave energy converter array of twelve heaving point absorbers has been assessed numerically in a frequency domain model. Each point absorber is assumed to have its own linear power take-off. The impact of slamming, stroke and force restrictions on the power absorption...

Development of a High Temperature Antenna Pointing Mechanism for BepiColombo Planetary Orbiter

Science.gov (United States)

Campo, Pablo; Barrio, Aingeru; Puente, Nicolas; Kyle, Robert

2013-09-01

BepiColombo is an ESA mission to Mercury its planetary orbiter (MPO) has two antenna pointing mechanism, High gain antenna pointing mechanism steers and points a large reflector which is integrated at system level by TAS-I Rome. Medium gain antenna (MGA) APM points a 1.5 m boom with a horn antenna. Both radiating elements exposed to sun fluxes as high as 10 solar constants without protections.The pointing mechanism is a major challenge as high performances are required in a harsh environment. It has required the development of new technologies, and components specially dedicated for the mission needs. Some of the state of the art required for the mission was achieved during the preparatory technology development activities [1]. However the number of critical elements involved, and the difficulties of some areas have required the continuation of the developments, and new research activities had to be launched in CD phase. Some of the major concerns and related areas of development are:- High temperature and long life requirements for the gearhead motors (up to 15500 equivalent APM revolutions, 19 million motor revolution)- Low thermal distortion of the mechanical chain, being at the same time insulating from external environment and interfaces (55 arcsec pointing error)- Low heat leak to the spacecraft (in the order of 50W per APM)- High precision position control, low microvibration noise and error stability in motion (16 arcsec/s)- High power radio frequency (18W in band Ka, 30 in X band) with phase stability for use in radio-science (3mm in Ka band, 5o in X band).- Wide range of motion (full 360o with end-stops)Currently HGA APM EQM azimuth and elevation stages are assembled and ready for test at actuator level.

Highly Efficient Estimators of Multivariate Location with High Breakdown Point

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lopuhaa, H.P.

1991-01-01

We propose an affine equivariant estimator of multivariate location that combines a high breakdown point and a bounded influence function with high asymptotic efficiency. This proposal is basically a location $M$-estimator based on the observations obtained after scaling with an affine equivariant

High performance flexible CMOS SOI FinFETs

KAUST Repository

Fahad, Hossain M.

2014-06-01

We demonstrate the first ever CMOS compatible soft etch back based high performance flexible CMOS SOI FinFETs. The move from planar to non-planar FinFETs has enabled continued scaling down to the 14 nm technology node. This has been possible due to the reduction in off-state leakage and reduced short channel effects on account of the superior electrostatic charge control of multiple gates. At the same time, flexible electronics is an exciting expansion opportunity for next generation electronics. However, a fully integrated low-cost system will need to maintain ultra-large-scale-integration density, high performance and reliability - same as today\\'s traditional electronics. Up until recently, this field has been mainly dominated by very weak performance organic electronics enabled by low temperature processes, conducive to low melting point plastics. Now however, we show the world\\'s highest performing flexible version of 3D FinFET CMOS using a state-of-the-art CMOS compatible fabrication technique for high performance ultra-mobile consumer applications with stylish design. © 2014 IEEE.

On the Performance of Multihop Heterodyne FSO Systems With Pointing Errors

KAUST Repository

Zedini, Emna

2015-03-30

This paper reports the end-to-end performance analysis of a multihop free-space optical system with amplify-and-forward (AF) channel-state-information (CSI)-assisted or fixed-gain relays using heterodyne detection over Gamma–Gamma turbulence fading with pointing error impairments. In particular, we derive new closed-form results for the average bit error rate (BER) of a variety of binary modulation schemes and the ergodic capacity in terms of the Meijer\\'s G function. We then offer new accurate asymptotic results for the average BER and the ergodic capacity at high SNR values in terms of simple elementary functions. For the capacity, novel asymptotic results at low and high average SNR regimes are also obtained via an alternative moments-based approach. All analytical results are verified via computer-based Monte-Carlo simulations.

Size-exclusion chromatography for the determination of the boiling point distribution of high-boiling petroleum fractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Boczkaj, Grzegorz; Przyjazny, Andrzej; Kamiński, Marian

2015-03-01

The paper describes a new procedure for the determination of boiling point distribution of high-boiling petroleum fractions using size-exclusion chromatography with refractive index detection. Thus far, the determination of boiling range distribution by chromatography has been accomplished using simulated distillation with gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. This study revealed that in spite of substantial differences in the separation mechanism and the detection mode, the size-exclusion chromatography technique yields similar results for the determination of boiling point distribution compared with simulated distillation and novel empty column gas chromatography. The developed procedure using size-exclusion chromatography has a substantial applicability, especially for the determination of exact final boiling point values for high-boiling mixtures, for which a standard high-temperature simulated distillation would have to be used. In this case, the precision of final boiling point determination is low due to the high final temperatures of the gas chromatograph oven and an insufficient thermal stability of both the gas chromatography stationary phase and the sample. Additionally, the use of high-performance liquid chromatography detectors more sensitive than refractive index detection allows a lower detection limit for high-molar-mass aromatic compounds, and thus increases the sensitivity of final boiling point determination. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Analysis of relationship between registration performance of point cloud statistical model and generation method of corresponding points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaoka, Naoto; Watanabe, Wataru; Hontani, Hidekata

2010-01-01

Most of the time when we construct statistical point cloud model, we need to calculate the corresponding points. Constructed statistical model will not be the same if we use different types of method to calculate the corresponding points. This article proposes the effect to statistical model of human organ made by different types of method to calculate the corresponding points. We validated the performance of statistical model by registering a surface of an organ in a 3D medical image. We compare two methods to calculate corresponding points. The first, the 'Generalized Multi-Dimensional Scaling (GMDS)', determines the corresponding points by the shapes of two curved surfaces. The second approach, the 'Entropy-based Particle system', chooses corresponding points by calculating a number of curved surfaces statistically. By these methods we construct the statistical models and using these models we conducted registration with the medical image. For the estimation, we use non-parametric belief propagation and this method estimates not only the position of the organ but also the probability density of the organ position. We evaluate how the two different types of method that calculates corresponding points affects the statistical model by change in probability density of each points. (author)

Development of high performance electroless Ni-P-HNT composite coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranganatha, S., E-mail: kamath.ranganath@gmail.com [Department of studies in chemistry, School of chemical sciences, Kuvempu university, Shankaraghatta-577451, Shimoga, Karnataka (India); Venkatesha, T.V., E-mail: drtvvenkatesha@yahoo.co.uk [Department of studies in chemistry, School of chemical sciences, Kuvempu university, Shankaraghatta-577451, Shimoga, Karnataka (India); Vathsala, K., E-mail: vathsala.mahesh@gmail.com [Nanotribology Laboratory, Mechanical engineering department, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, Karnataka (India)

2012-12-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Novel Ni-P composites were prepared by incorporating Halloysite nanotubes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mild steel specimens surface engineered by nickel using electroless technique. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Incorporated halloysite nanotubes made nickel matrix highly corrosion resistant. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer HNT composite exhibits high hardness and largely reduces friction. - Abstract: Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) of the dimension 50 nm Multiplication-Sign 1-3 {mu}m (diameter Multiplication-Sign length) are utililized to fabricate the alloy composite by employing electroless/autocatalytic deposition technique. Electroless Ni-P-HNT binary alloy composite coatings are prepared successfully on low carbon steel. These nanotubes were made to get inserted/incorporated into nickel matrix and corresponding composites are examined for their electrochemical, mechanical and tribological performances and compared with that of plain Ni-P. The coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) techniques to analyze surface nature and composition correspondingly. Small amount of incorporated HNTs made Ni-P deposits appreciable enhancement and betterment in corrosion resistance, hardness and friction resistance. This drastic improvement in the properties reflects the effect of addition of HNTs into Ni-P matrix leading to the development of high performance Ni-P-HNT composite coatings.

Design and evaluation of aircraft heat source systems for use with high-freezing point fuels

Science.gov (United States)

Pasion, A. J.

1979-01-01

The objectives were the design, performance and economic analyses of practical aircraft fuel heating systems that would permit the use of high freezing-point fuels on long-range aircraft. Two hypothetical hydrocarbon fuels with freezing points of -29 C and -18 C were used to represent the variation from current day jet fuels. A Boeing 747-200 with JT9D-7/7A engines was used as the baseline aircraft. A 9300 Km mission was used as the mission length from which the heat requirements to maintain the fuel above its freezing point was based.

High precision target center determination from a point cloud

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Kregar

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Many applications of terrestrial laser scanners (TLS require the determination of a specific point from a point cloud. In this paper procedure of high precision planar target center acquisition from point cloud is presented. The process is based on an image matching algorithm but before we can deal with raster image to fit a target on it, we need to properly determine the best fitting plane and project points on it. The main emphasis of this paper is in the precision estimation and propagation through the whole procedure which allows us to obtain precision assessment of final results (target center coordinates. Theoretic precision estimations – obtained through the procedure were rather high so we compared them with the empiric precision estimations obtained as standard deviations of results of 60 independently scanned targets. An χ2-test confirmed that theoretic precisions are overestimated. The problem most probably lies in the overestimated precisions of the plane parameters due to vast redundancy of points. However, empirical precisions also confirmed that the proposed procedure can ensure a submillimeter precision level. The algorithm can automatically detect grossly erroneous results to some extent. It can operate when the incidence angles of a laser beam are as high as 80°, which is desirable property if one is going to use planar targets as tie points in scan registration. The proposed algorithm will also contribute to improve TLS calibration procedures.

Evolution of management activities and performance of the Point Lepreau Steam Generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slade, J.; Keating, J.; Gendron, T.

2007-01-01

The Point Lepreau steam generators have been in service since 1983 when the plant was commissioned. During the first thirteen years of operation, Point Lepreau steam generator maintenance issues led to 3-4% unplanned plant incapability Steam generator fouling, corrosion, and the introduction of foreign materials during maintenance led to six tube leaks, two unplanned outages, two lengthy extended outages, and degraded thermal performance during this period. In recognition of the link between steam generator maintenance activities and plant performance, improvements to steam generator management activities have been continuously implemented since 1987. This paper reviews the evolution of steam generator management activities at Point Lepreau and the resulting improved trends in performance. Plant incapability from unplanned steam generator maintenance has been close to zero since 1996. The positive trends have provided a strong basis for the management strategies developed for post-refurbishment operation. (author)

The IEEE 1355 Standard. Developments, performance and application in high energy physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, S.

1998-12-01

The data acquisition systems of the next generation High Energy Physics experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will rely on high-speed point-to-point links and switching networks for their higher level trigger and event building systems. This thesis provides a detailed evaluation of the DS-Link and switch technology, which is based on the IEEE 1355 standard for Heterogeneous Interconnect (HIC). The DS-Link is a bidirectional point-to-point serial interconnect, operating at speeds up to 200 MBaud. The objective of this thesis was to study the performance of the IEEE 1355 link and switch technology and to demonstrate that switching networks using this technology would scale to meet the requirements of the High Energy Physics applications

Growth responses of male broilers subjected to increasing air velocities at high ambient temperatures and a high dew point.

Science.gov (United States)

Dozier, W A; Lott, B D; Branton, S L

2005-06-01

This study examined live performance responses of male broilers to increasing air velocity of 120 and 180 m/min reared under high cyclic temperatures (25-35-25 degrees C) with a 23 degrees C dew point from 21 to 49 d. Birds were reared in an environmental facility containing 2 wind tunnels (4 pens/tunnel) and 6 floor pens (control). At 21 d, 53 birds were placed in each pen of the wind tunnels and control group, respectively, and growth performance was determined weekly. Increasing air velocity from 120 to 180 m/min improved BW and BW gain from 29 to 35, 36 to 42, and 43 to 49 d of age leading to a cumulative advantage of 287 g in BW gain and a 10-point difference in feed conversion from 21 to 49 d of age. Subjecting birds to air velocity improved growth rate, feed consumption, and feed conversion at each weekly interval from 28 to 49 d over the control birds. These results indicate that male broilers approximating 2.0 to 3.0 kg respond to an air velocity of 180 m/min when exposed to high cyclic temperatures.

Performance of diamond and point attack coal cutter picks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Y. [CSIRO, Brisbane, Qld. (Australia). Division of Exploration and Mining

1996-12-31

This paper presents results of laboratory experiments and field trials of PDC (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) and PA (Point Attack) coal cutter picks. Laboratory cutting tests included linear rock and coal cutting and turning rock cutting. The following parameters were measured to assess performance of PDC and PA cutter picks: cutting force, normal force, specific energy consumption, yield, dust generation and ignitional characteristics (temperature rise). Field trials were conducted on a longwall shearer. Performance of both types of pick interims of pick life and dust generation were assessed. 3 refs., 18 figs., 3 tabs.

High-Precision Registration of Point Clouds Based on Sphere Feature Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junhui Huang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Point cloud registration is a key process in multi-view 3D measurements. Its precision affects the measurement precision directly. However, in the case of the point clouds with non-overlapping areas or curvature invariant surface, it is difficult to achieve a high precision. A high precision registration method based on sphere feature constraint is presented to overcome the difficulty in the paper. Some known sphere features with constraints are used to construct virtual overlapping areas. The virtual overlapping areas provide more accurate corresponding point pairs and reduce the influence of noise. Then the transformation parameters between the registered point clouds are solved by an optimization method with weight function. In that case, the impact of large noise in point clouds can be reduced and a high precision registration is achieved. Simulation and experiments validate the proposed method.

High-Performance Constant Power Generation in Grid-Connected PV Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sangwongwanich, Ariya; Yang, Yongheng; Blaabjerg, Frede

2016-01-01

An advanced power control strategy by limiting the maximum feed-in power of PV systems has been proposed, which can ensure a fast and smooth transition between maximum power point tracking and Constant Power Generation (CPG). Regardless of the solar irradiance levels, high-performance and stable...... operation are always achieved by the proposed control strategy. It can regulate the PV output power according to any set-point, and force the PV systems to operate at the left side of the maximum power point without stability problems. Experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed CPG...

Introducing Nine-Point Circle to Junior High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Fiangga, S.; Azizah, M. A. N.; Rini, R. N. K.; Hidayanti, A. N.

2018-01-01

The concept of circles is an ancient concept that has appeared since Ancient Egypt from which this concept gives many significant contributions in mathematics’ development until now. Nevertheless, the concept of circles hides many uncover mysterious features that are of applications in mathematics. One of the mysterious features is the Nine-Point Circle. This Nine-point circle is also known as Euler’s circle, six-point circle, Feuerbach’s circle, the twelve-point circle, and many others. Because of these different names, there have been misunderstand among mathematicians about the Nine-Point Circle’s history. Besides, the discussion of Nine-Point Circle can be used to be an initial material to explain elementary geometry topic in junior high school’s level curriculum of 2013. Therefore, this concept needs to be delivered to the students as a geometry introduction. A possible form of the integration historical aspect of Nine-point circle is suggested in this paper as well as its importance in the curriculum of 2013.

Cloud-point extraction and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of synthetic phenolic antioxidants in edible oils.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Miao; Xia, Qinghai; Liu, Mousheng; Yang, Yaling

2011-01-01

A cloud-point extraction (CPE) method using Triton X-114 (TX-114) nonionic surfactant was developed for the extraction and preconcentration of propyl gallate (PG), tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) from edible oils. The optimum conditions of CPE were 2.5% (v/v) TX-114, 0.5% (w/v) NaCl and 40 min equilibration time at 50 °C. The surfactant-rich phase was then analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection at 280 nm, using a gradient mobile phase consisting of methanol and 1.5% (v/v) acetic acid. Under the studied conditions, 4 synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs) were successfully separated within 24 min. The limits of detection (LOD) were 1.9 ng mL(-1) for PG, 11 ng mL(-1) for TBHQ, 2.3 ng mL(-1) for BHA, and 5.9 ng mL(-1) for BHT. Recoveries of the SPAs spiked into edible oil were in the range 81% to 88%. The CPE method was shown to be potentially useful for the preconcentration of the target analytes, with a preconcentration factor of 14. Moreover, the method is simple, has high sensitivity, consumes much less solvent than traditional methods, and is environment-friendly. Practical Application: The method established in this article uses less organic solvent to extract SPAs from edible oils; it is simple, highly sensitive and results in no pollution to the environment.

Area, and Power Performance Analysis of a Floating-Point Based Application on FPGAs

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Govindu, Gokul

2003-01-01

.... However the inevitable quantization effects and the complexity of converting the floating-point algorithm into a fixed point one, limit the use of fixed-point arithmetic for high precision embedded computing...

Thermodynamic Temperature of High-Temperature Fixed Points Traceable to Blackbody Radiation and Synchrotron Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Wähmer, M.; Anhalt, K.; Hollandt, J.; Klein, R.; Taubert, R. D.; Thornagel, R.; Ulm, G.; Gavrilov, V.; Grigoryeva, I.; Khlevnoy, B.; Sapritsky, V.

2017-10-01

Absolute spectral radiometry is currently the only established primary thermometric method for the temperature range above 1300 K. Up to now, the ongoing improvements of high-temperature fixed points and their formal implementation into an improved temperature scale with the mise en pratique for the definition of the kelvin, rely solely on single-wavelength absolute radiometry traceable to the cryogenic radiometer. Two alternative primary thermometric methods, yielding comparable or possibly even smaller uncertainties, have been proposed in the literature. They use ratios of irradiances to determine the thermodynamic temperature traceable to blackbody radiation and synchrotron radiation. At PTB, a project has been established in cooperation with VNIIOFI to use, for the first time, all three methods simultaneously for the determination of the phase transition temperatures of high-temperature fixed points. For this, a dedicated four-wavelengths ratio filter radiometer was developed. With all three thermometric methods performed independently and in parallel, we aim to compare the potential and practical limitations of all three methods, disclose possibly undetected systematic effects of each method and thereby confirm or improve the previous measurements traceable to the cryogenic radiometer. This will give further and independent confidence in the thermodynamic temperature determination of the high-temperature fixed point's phase transitions.

Extended performance evaluation based on DEA a multidimensional point of view

CERN Document Server

Neumann, Ludmila

2017-01-01

This book introduces new methodological developments of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that satisfy the demands of business practice and provide a multidimensional point of view on the evaluation of organizational performance.

StreamMap: Smooth Dynamic Visualization of High-Density Streaming Points.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chenhui; Baciu, George; Han, Yu

2018-03-01

Interactive visualization of streaming points for real-time scatterplots and linear blending of correlation patterns is increasingly becoming the dominant mode of visual analytics for both big data and streaming data from active sensors and broadcasting media. To better visualize and interact with inter-stream patterns, it is generally necessary to smooth out gaps or distortions in the streaming data. Previous approaches either animate the points directly or present a sampled static heat-map. We propose a new approach, called StreamMap, to smoothly blend high-density streaming points and create a visual flow that emphasizes the density pattern distributions. In essence, we present three new contributions for the visualization of high-density streaming points. The first contribution is a density-based method called super kernel density estimation that aggregates streaming points using an adaptive kernel to solve the overlapping problem. The second contribution is a robust density morphing algorithm that generates several smooth intermediate frames for a given pair of frames. The third contribution is a trend representation design that can help convey the flow directions of the streaming points. The experimental results on three datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of StreamMap when dynamic visualization and visual analysis of trend patterns on streaming points are required.

Performances improvement of maximum power point tracking perturb and observe method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Egiziano, L.; Femia, N.; Granozio, D.; Petrone, G.; Spagnuolo, G. [Salermo Univ., Salermo (Italy); Vitelli, M. [Seconda Univ. di Napoli, Napoli (Italy)

2006-07-01

Perturb and observe best operation conditions were investigated in order to identify edge efficiency performance capabilities of a maximum power point (MPP) tracking technique for photovoltaic (PV) applications. The strategy was developed to ensure a 3-points behavior across the MPP under a fixed irradiation level with a central point blocked on the MPP and 2 operating points operating at voltage values that guaranteed the same power levels. The system was also devised to quickly detect the MPP movement in the presence of varying atmospheric conditions by increasing the perturbation so that the MPP was guaranteed within a few sampling periods. A perturbation equation was selected where amplitude was represented as a function of the actual power drawn from the PV field together with the adoption of a parabolic interpolation of the sequence of the final 3 acquired voltage power couples corresponding to as many operating points. The technique was developed to ensure that the power difference between 2 consecutive operating points was higher than the power quantization error. Simulations were conducted to demonstrate that the proposed technique arranged operating points symmetrically around the MPP. The average power of the 3-points set was achieved by means of the parabolic prediction. Experiments conducted to validate the simulation showed a reduced power oscillation below the MPP and a real power gain. 2 refs., 8 figs.

Achieving Mixtures of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mircea POPA

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC is a relatively new concrete. According to [11] UHPC is that concrete which features compressive strength over C100/115 class. Up to this point standards for this type of concrete were not adopted, although its characteristic strength exceeds those specified in [33]. Its main property is high compressive strength. This provides the possibility of reducing the section of elements (beams or columns made of this type of concrete, while the load capacity remains high. The study consists in blending mixtures of UHPC made of varying proportions of materials. The authors have obtained strengths of up to 160 MPa. The materials used are: Portland cement, silica fume, quartz powder, steel fibers, superplasticiser, sand and crushed aggregate for concrete - andesite.

Production of Low-Freezing-Point Highly Branched Alkanes through Michael Addition.

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Yaxuan; Xia, Qineng; Liu, Xiaohui; Wang, Yanqin

2017-12-22

A new approach for the production of low-freezing-point, high-quality fuels from lignocellulose-derived molecules was developed with Michael addition as the key step. Among the investigated catalysts, CoCl 2 ⋅6 H 2 O was found most active for the Michael addition of 2,4-pentanedione with FA (single aldol adduct of furfural and acetone, 4-(2-furanyl)-3-butene-2-one). Over CoCl 2 ⋅6 H 2 O, a high carbon yield of C 13 oxygenates (about 75 %) can be achieved under mild conditions (353 K, 20 h). After hydrodeoxygenation, low-freezing-point (hydrodeoxygenation, high density (0.8415 g mL -1 ) and low-freezing-point (<223 K) branched alkanes with 18, 23 carbons within lubricant range were also obtained over a Pd/NbOPO 4 catalyst. These highly branched alkanes can be directly used as transportation fuels or additives. This work opens a new strategy for the synthesis of highly branched alkanes with low freezing point from renewable biomass. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Relationship between the Composition of Polymer of n-Alkyl Substituted Acrylate and Vinyl Amine and Their Performance on Pour Point Depression

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jiang Qingzhe; Luo Fangmin; Song Zhaozheng; Ke Ming

2005-01-01

Polymer of n-alkyl substituted acrylate (PA) with the alkyl side chains C16- 30 were synthesized.Their crystallinity, solubility and effect on pour point depression were studied. Results showed that only carbon atoms located far away from polar groups of PA pour point depressants participated in crystallization.When the number of carbon atoms that participated in crystallization is about three fourths of the average carbon number of wax in crude, the effect of PA is the best. The molecular weight distribution of PA pour point depressant has little influence on the effect of pour point depression, and the average molecular weight of PA in the range of (1.5- 2.2)× 104 shows the best effect. The introduction of polar groups into the molecule of PA can improve its performance. However, a too high content of polar groups in PA would cause deterioration, and even lead to loss of PA's performance for pour point depression.

Predicting Freshman Grade Point Average From College Admissions Test Scores and State High School Test Scores

OpenAIRE

Koretz, Daniel; Yu, C; Mbekeani, Preeya Pandya; Langi, M.; Dhaliwal, Tasminda Kaur; Braslow, David Arthur

2016-01-01

The current focus on assessing “college and career readiness” raises an empirical question: How do high school tests compare with college admissions tests in predicting performance in college? We explored this using data from the City University of New York and public colleges in Kentucky. These two systems differ in the choice of college admissions test, the stakes for students on the high school test, and demographics. We predicted freshman grade point average (FGPA) from high school GPA an...

Comparative measurements performed by the IRSN, the ACRO and the CRIIRAD on some points of a pillbox of the Vaujours Fort (77)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

As an association reported a relatively high measurement of radioactivity on the site of the Vaujours Fort, the IRSN, the ACRO and the CRIIRAD have been asked to perform comparative measurements on this site. After having briefly recalled some elements of the site history, described the areas concerned by this control, indicated the expected radioactive elements, this report presents the measurements which were to be performed: dose equivalent rate, beta radiation, hardware used by the IRSN. It presents the measurement protocol: planned protocol and implemented protocol. It comments the measurement performance: noise, selection and measurement of reference points, measurements on different points. It proposes a comparative analysis of results obtained on the different points and on a sample. Measurements are then discussed. Photos and measurement tables are provided in appendix

High performance multichannel photonic biochip sensors for future point of care diagnostics: an overview on two EU-sponsored projects

Science.gov (United States)

Giannone, Domenico; Kazmierczak, Andrzej; Dortu, Fabian; Vivien, Laurent; Sohlström, Hans

2010-04-01

We present here research work on two optical biosensors which have been developed within two separate European projects (6th and 7th EU Framework Programmes). The biosensors are based on the idea of a disposable biochip, integrating photonics and microfluidics, optically interrogated by a multichannel interrogation platform. The objective is to develop versatile tools, suitable for performing screening tests at Point of Care or for example, at schools or in the field. The two projects explore different options in terms of optical design and different materials. While SABIO used Si3N4/SiO2 ring resonators structures, P3SENS aims at the use of photonic crystal devices based on polymers, potentially a much more economical option. We discuss both approaches to show how they enable high sensitivity and multiple channel detection. The medium term objective is to develop a new detection system that has low cost and is portable but at the same time offering high sensitivity, selectivity and multiparametric detection from a sample containing various components (e.g. blood, serum, saliva, etc.). Most biological sensing devices already present on the market suffer from limitations in multichannel operation capability (either the detection of multiple analytes indicating a given pathology or the simultaneous detection of multiple pathologies). In other words, the number of different analytes that can be detected on a single chip is very limited. This limitation is a main issue addressed by the two projects. The excessive cost per test of conventional bio sensing devices is a second issue that is addressed.

Parallel point-multiplication architecture using combined group operations for high-speed cryptographic applications.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md Selim Hossain

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a novel parallel architecture for fast hardware implementation of elliptic curve point multiplication (ECPM, which is the key operation of an elliptic curve cryptography processor. The point multiplication over binary fields is synthesized on both FPGA and ASIC technology by designing fast elliptic curve group operations in Jacobian projective coordinates. A novel combined point doubling and point addition (PDPA architecture is proposed for group operations to achieve high speed and low hardware requirements for ECPM. It has been implemented over the binary field which is recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST. The proposed ECPM supports two Koblitz and random curves for the key sizes 233 and 163 bits. For group operations, a finite-field arithmetic operation, e.g. multiplication, is designed on a polynomial basis. The delay of a 233-bit point multiplication is only 3.05 and 3.56 μs, in a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA, for Koblitz and random curves, respectively, and 0.81 μs in an ASIC 65-nm technology, which are the fastest hardware implementation results reported in the literature to date. In addition, a 163-bit point multiplication is also implemented in FPGA and ASIC for fair comparison which takes around 0.33 and 0.46 μs, respectively. The area-time product of the proposed point multiplication is very low compared to similar designs. The performance ([Formula: see text] and Area × Time × Energy (ATE product of the proposed design are far better than the most significant studies found in the literature.

An energy-efficient high-performance processor with reconfigurable data-paths using RSFQ circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takagi, Naofumi

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► An idea of a high-performance computer using RSFQ circuits is shown. ► An outline of processor with reconfigurable data-paths (RDPs) is shown. ► Architectural details of an SFQ-RDP are described. -- Abstract: We show recent progress in our research on an energy-efficient high-performance processor with reconfigurable data-paths (RDPs) using rapid single-flux-quantum (RSFQ) circuits. We mainly describe the architectural details of an RDP implemented using RSFQ circuits. An RDP consists of a lot of floating-point units (FPUs) and operand routing networks (ORNs) which connect the FPUs. We reconfigure the RDP to fit a computation, i.e., a group of floating-point operations, appearing in a ‘for’ loop of programs for numerical computations by setting the route in ORNs before the execution of the loop. In the RDP, a lot of FPUs work in parallel with pipelined fashion, and hence, very high-performance computation is achieved

High performance Lyot and PIAA coronagraphy for arbitrarily shaped telescope apertures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guyon, Olivier; Hinz, Philip M. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Cady, Eric [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Belikov, Ruslan [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Martinache, Frantz, E-mail: guyon@naoj.org [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Subaru Telescope, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

2014-01-10

Two high-performance coronagraphic approaches compatible with segmented and obstructed telescope pupils are described. Both concepts use entrance pupil amplitude apodization and a combined phase and amplitude focal plane mask to achieve full coronagraphic extinction of an on-axis point source. While the first concept, called Apodized Pupil Complex Mask Lyot Coronagraph (APCMLC), relies on a transmission mask to perform the pupil apodization, the second concept, called Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC), uses beam remapping for lossless apodization. Both concepts theoretically offer complete coronagraphic extinction (infinite contrast) of a point source in monochromatic light, with high throughput and sub-λ/D inner working angle, regardless of aperture shape. The PIAACMC offers nearly 100% throughput and approaches the fundamental coronagraph performance limit imposed by first principles. The steps toward designing the coronagraphs for arbitrary apertures are described for monochromatic light. Designs for the APCMLC and the higher performance PIAACMC are shown for several monolith and segmented apertures, such as the apertures of the Subaru Telescope, Giant Magellan Telescope, Thirty Meter Telescope, the European Extremely Large Telescope, and the Large Binocular Telescope. Performance in broadband light is also quantified, suggesting that the monochromatic designs are suitable for use in up to 20% wide spectral bands for ground-based telescopes.

Highly sensitive chemiluminescent point mutation detection by circular strand-displacement amplification reaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Chao; Ge, Yujie; Gu, Hongxi; Ma, Cuiping

2011-08-15

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping is attracting extensive attentions owing to its direct connections with human diseases including cancers. Here, we have developed a highly sensitive chemiluminescence biosensor based on circular strand-displacement amplification and the separation by magnetic beads reducing the background signal for point mutation detection at room temperature. This method took advantage of both the T4 DNA ligase recognizing single-base mismatch with high selectivity and the strand-displacement reaction of polymerase to perform signal amplification. The detection limit of this method was 1.3 × 10(-16)M, which showed better sensitivity than that of most of those reported detection methods of SNP. Additionally, the magnetic beads as carrier of immobility was not only to reduce the background signal, but also may have potential apply in high through-put screening of SNP detection in human genome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Suns-VOC characteristics of high performance kesterite solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Gunawan, Oki; Gokmen, Tayfun; Mitzi, David B.

2014-08-01

Low open circuit voltage (VOC) has been recognized as the number one problem in the current generation of Cu2ZnSn(Se,S)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells. We report high light intensity and low temperature Suns-VOC measurement in high performance CZTSSe devices. The Suns-VOC curves exhibit bending at high light intensity, which points to several prospective VOC limiting mechanisms that could impact the VOC, even at 1 sun for lower performing samples. These VOC limiting mechanisms include low bulk conductivity (because of low hole density or low mobility), bulk or interface defects, including tail states, and a non-ohmic back contact for low carrier density CZTSSe. The non-ohmic back contact problem can be detected by Suns-VOC measurements with different monochromatic illuminations. These limiting factors may also contribute to an artificially lower JSC-VOC diode ideality factor.

High-temperature performance of the brazement of molybdenum single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirakoa, Y.

1992-01-01

Molybdenum is utilized in the fields of high-temperature vacuum industry, electrical and electronic industry, and chemical industries. For the wider application of this material, however, it is necessary to obtain a joining with good quality. In this investigation, high-temperature brazing of a single-crystalline molybdenum was performed. Then the bend properties of the brazement after a high-temperature annealing were evaluated. The single-crystalline molybdenum had been produced by the secondary recrystallization method. Brazing was performed in vacuum at 2273K using Mo-40Ru alloy powder as a brazing material. The brazement was investigated via optical microscopy, EPMA, Knoop hardness, and three point bending. In this paper the effects of annealing in hydrogen and vacuum are discussed

High Performance Commercial Fenestration Framing Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mike Manteghi; Sneh Kumar; Joshua Early; Bhaskar Adusumalli

2010-01-31

A major objective of the U.S. Department of Energy is to have a zero energy commercial building by the year 2025. Windows have a major influence on the energy performance of the building envelope as they control over 55% of building energy load, and represent one important area where technologies can be developed to save energy. Aluminum framing systems are used in over 80% of commercial fenestration products (i.e. windows, curtain walls, store fronts, etc.). Aluminum framing systems are often required in commercial buildings because of their inherent good structural properties and long service life, which is required from commercial and architectural frames. At the same time, they are lightweight and durable, requiring very little maintenance, and offer design flexibility. An additional benefit of aluminum framing systems is their relatively low cost and easy manufacturability. Aluminum, being an easily recyclable material, also offers sustainable features. However, from energy efficiency point of view, aluminum frames have lower thermal performance due to the very high thermal conductivity of aluminum. Fenestration systems constructed of aluminum alloys therefore have lower performance in terms of being effective barrier to energy transfer (heat loss or gain). Despite the lower energy performance, aluminum is the choice material for commercial framing systems and dominates the commercial/architectural fenestration market because of the reasons mentioned above. In addition, there is no other cost effective and energy efficient replacement material available to take place of aluminum in the commercial/architectural market. Hence it is imperative to improve the performance of aluminum framing system to improve the energy performance of commercial fenestration system and in turn reduce the energy consumption of commercial building and achieve zero energy building by 2025. The objective of this project was to develop high performance, energy efficient commercial

Effect of fuel fabrication parameters on performance- designer's point of view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, P.N.; Ravi, M.; Soni, R.; Bajaj, S.S.; Bhardwaj, S.A.

2004-01-01

The fuel bundle performance in reactor depends upon the material properties, dimensions of the different components and their inter-compatibility. This paper brings out the fuel parameters required to be optimised to achieve better fuel reliability, operational flexibility, safety and economics from the designer point of view

Integrated cost estimation methodology to support high-performance building design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaidya, Prasad; Greden, Lara; Eijadi, David; McDougall, Tom [The Weidt Group, Minnetonka (United States); Cole, Ray [Axiom Engineers, Monterey (United States)

2007-07-01

Design teams evaluating the performance of energy conservation measures (ECMs) calculate energy savings rigorously with established modelling protocols, accounting for the interaction between various measures. However, incremental cost calculations do not have a similar rigor. Often there is no recognition of cost reductions with integrated design, nor is there assessment of cost interactions amongst measures. This lack of rigor feeds the notion that high-performance buildings cost more, creating a barrier for design teams pursuing aggressive high-performance outcomes. This study proposes an alternative integrated methodology to arrive at a lower perceived incremental cost for improved energy performance. The methodology is based on the use of energy simulations as means towards integrated design and cost estimation. Various points along the spectrum of integration are identified and characterized by the amount of design effort invested, the scheduling of effort, and relative energy performance of the resultant design. It includes a study of the interactions between building system parameters as they relate to capital costs. Several cost interactions amongst energy measures are found to be significant.The value of this approach is demonstrated with alternatives in a case study that shows the differences between perceived costs for energy measures along various points on the integration spectrum. These alternatives show design tradeoffs and identify how decisions would have been different with a standard costing approach. Areas of further research to make the methodology more robust are identified. Policy measures to encourage the integrated approach and reduce the barriers towards improved energy performance are discussed.

Detection of Single Tree Stems in Forested Areas from High Density ALS Point Clouds Using 3d Shape Descriptors

Science.gov (United States)

Amiri, N.; Polewski, P.; Yao, W.; Krzystek, P.; Skidmore, A. K.

2017-09-01

Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) is a widespread method for forest mapping and management purposes. While common ALS techniques provide valuable information about the forest canopy and intermediate layers, the point density near the ground may be poor due to dense overstory conditions. The current study highlights a new method for detecting stems of single trees in 3D point clouds obtained from high density ALS with a density of 300 points/m2. Compared to standard ALS data, due to lower flight height (150-200 m) this elevated point density leads to more laser reflections from tree stems. In this work, we propose a three-tiered method which works on the point, segment and object levels. First, for each point we calculate the likelihood that it belongs to a tree stem, derived from the radiometric and geometric features of its neighboring points. In the next step, we construct short stem segments based on high-probability stem points, and classify the segments by considering the distribution of points around them as well as their spatial orientation, which encodes the prior knowledge that trees are mainly vertically aligned due to gravity. Finally, we apply hierarchical clustering on the positively classified segments to obtain point sets corresponding to single stems, and perform ℓ1-based orthogonal distance regression to robustly fit lines through each stem point set. The ℓ1-based method is less sensitive to outliers compared to the least square approaches. From the fitted lines, the planimetric tree positions can then be derived. Experiments were performed on two plots from the Hochficht forest in Oberösterreich region located in Austria.We marked a total of 196 reference stems in the point clouds of both plots by visual interpretation. The evaluation of the automatically detected stems showed a classification precision of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively for Plot 1 and 2, with recall values of 0.7 and 0.67.

Fracture toughness of ultra high performance concrete by flexural performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manolova Emanuela

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the fracture toughness of the innovative structural material - Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC, evaluated by flexural performance. For determination the material behaviour by static loading are used adapted standard test methods for flexural performance of fiber-reinforced concrete (ASTM C 1609 and ASTM C 1018. Fracture toughness is estimated by various deformation parameters derived from the load-deflection curve, obtained by testing simple supported beam under third-point loading, using servo-controlled testing system. This method is used to be estimated the contribution of the embedded fiber-reinforcement into improvement of the fractural behaviour of UHPC by changing the crack-resistant capacity, fracture toughness and energy absorption capacity with various mechanisms. The position of the first crack has been formulated based on P-δ (load- deflection response and P-ε (load - longitudinal deformation in the tensile zone response, which are used for calculation of the two toughness indices I5 and I10. The combination of steel fibres with different dimensions leads to a composite, having at the same time increased crack resistance, first crack formation, ductility and post-peak residual strength.

A high-performance stand-alone solar PV power system for LED lighting

KAUST Repository

Huang, B. J.; Hsu, P. C.; Wu, M. S.; Chen, K.Y.

2010-01-01

The present study developed a high-performance solar PV power technology for the LED lighting of a solar home system. The nMPPO (near-Maximum-Power- Point- Operation) design is employed in system design to eliminate MPPT. A feedback control system

High performance homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beim, Anne; Vibæk, Kasper Sánchez

2014-01-01

Can prefabrication contribute to the development of high performance homes? To answer this question, this chapter defines high performance in more broadly inclusive terms, acknowledging the technical, architectural, social and economic conditions under which energy consumption and production occur....... Consideration of all these factors is a precondition for a truly integrated practice and as this chapter demonstrates, innovative project delivery methods founded on the manufacturing of prefabricated buildings contribute to the production of high performance homes that are cost effective to construct, energy...

High-Performance Beam Simulator for the LANSCE Linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pang, Xiaoying; Rybarcyk, Lawrence J.; Baily, Scott A.

2012-01-01

A high performance multiparticle tracking simulator is currently under development at Los Alamos. The heart of the simulator is based upon the beam dynamics simulation algorithms of the PARMILA code, but implemented in C++ on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) hardware using NVIDIA's CUDA platform. Linac operating set points are provided to the simulator via the EPICS control system so that changes of the real time linac parameters are tracked and the simulation results updated automatically. This simulator will provide valuable insight into the beam dynamics along a linac in pseudo real-time, especially where direct measurements of the beam properties do not exist. Details regarding the approach, benefits and performance are presented.

Reliability of High-Temperature Fixed-Point Installations over 8 Years

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, C. J.; Ford, T.; Ongrai, O.; Pearce, J. V.

2017-12-01

At NPL, high-temperature metal-carbon eutectic fixed points have been set up for thermocouple calibration purposes since 2006, for realising reference temperatures above the highest point specified in the International Temperature Scale of 1990 for contact thermometer calibrations. Additionally, cells of the same design have been provided by NPL to other national measurement institutes (NMIs) and calibration laboratories over this period, creating traceable and ISO 17025 accredited facilities around the world for calibrating noble metal thermocouples at 1324 {°}C (Co-C) and 1492 {°}C (Pd-C). This paper shows collections of thermocouple calibration results obtained during use of the high-temperature fixed-point cells at NPL and, as further examples, the use of cells installed at CCPI Europe (UK) and NIMT (Thailand). The lifetime of the cells can now be shown to be in excess of 7 years, whether used on a weekly or monthly basis, and whether used in an NMI or industrial calibration laboratory.

Normalized Point Source Sensitivity for Off-Axis Optical Performance Evaluation of the Thirty Meter Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Byoung-Joon; Nissly, Carl; Troy, Mitchell; Angeli, George

2010-01-01

The Normalized Point Source Sensitivity (PSSN) has previously been defined and analyzed as an On-Axis seeing-limited telescope performance metric. In this paper, we expand the scope of the PSSN definition to include Off-Axis field of view (FoV) points and apply this generalized metric for performance evaluation of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). We first propose various possible choices for the PSSN definition and select one as our baseline. We show that our baseline metric has useful properties including the multiplicative feature even when considering Off-Axis FoV points, which has proven to be useful for optimizing the telescope error budget. Various TMT optical errors are considered for the performance evaluation including segment alignment and phasing, segment surface figures, temperature, and gravity, whose On-Axis PSSN values have previously been published by our group.

Comparison of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) between two-point and multi-point analyses using high-B-value diffusion MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubo, Hitoshi; Maeda, Masayuki; Araki, Akinobu

2001-01-01

We evaluated the accuracy of calculating apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) using high-B-value diffusion images. Echo planar diffusion-weighted MR images were obtained at 1.5 tesla in five standard locations in six subjects using gradient strengths corresponding to B values from 0 to 3000 s/mm 2 . Estimation of ADCs was made using two methods: a nonlinear regression model using measurements from a full set of B values (multi-point method) and linear estimation using B values of 0 and max only (two-point method). A high correlation between the two methods was noted (r=0.99), and the mean percentage differences were -0.53% and 0.53% in phantom and human brain, respectively. These results suggest there is little error in estimating ADCs calculated by the two-point technique using high-B-value diffusion MR images. (author)

On the performance of metrics to predict quality in point cloud representations

Science.gov (United States)

Alexiou, Evangelos; Ebrahimi, Touradj

2017-09-01

Point clouds are a promising alternative for immersive representation of visual contents. Recently, an increased interest has been observed in the acquisition, processing and rendering of this modality. Although subjective and objective evaluations are critical in order to assess the visual quality of media content, they still remain open problems for point cloud representation. In this paper we focus our efforts on subjective quality assessment of point cloud geometry, subject to typical types of impairments such as noise corruption and compression-like distortions. In particular, we propose a subjective methodology that is closer to real-life scenarios of point cloud visualization. The performance of the state-of-the-art objective metrics is assessed by considering the subjective scores as the ground truth. Moreover, we investigate the impact of adopting different test methodologies by comparing them. Advantages and drawbacks of every approach are reported, based on statistical analysis. The results and conclusions of this work provide useful insights that could be considered in future experimentation.

Guaranteeing Pointing Performance of the SDO Sun-Pointing Controllers in Light of Nonlinear Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Starin, Scott R.; Bourkland, Kristin L.

2007-01-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission is the first Space Weather Research Network mission, part of NASA s Living With a Star program.1 This program seeks to understand the changing Sun and its effects on the Solar System, life, and society. To this end, the SDO spacecraft will carry three Sun-observing instruments to geosynchronous orbit: Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), led by Stanford University; Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), led by Lockheed Martin Space and Astrophysics Laboratory; and Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE), led by the University of Colorado. Links describing the instruments in detail may be found through the SDO web site.2 The basic mission goals are to observe the Sun for a very high percentage of the 5-year mission (10-year goal) with long stretches of uninterrupted observations and with constant, high-data-rate transmission to a dedicated ground station. These goals guided the design of the spacecraft bus that will carry and service the three-instrument payload. At the time of this publication, the SDO spacecraft bus is well into the integration and testing phase at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). A three-axis stabilized attitude control system (ACS) is needed both to point at the Sun accurately and to keep the roll about the Sun vector correctly positioned. The ACS has four reaction wheel modes and 2 thruster actuated modes. More details about the ACS in general and the control modes in particular can be found in Refs. [3-6]. All four of SDO s wheel-actuated control modes involve Sun-pointing controllers, as might be expected from such a mission. Science mode, during which most science data is collected, uses specialized guide telescopes to point accurately at the Sun. Inertial mode has two sub-modes, one tracks a Sun-referenced target orientation, and another maintains an absolute (star-referenced) target orientation, that both employ a Kalman filter to process data from a digital Sun sensor and

Evaluation of the performance of a point-of-care method for total and differential white blood cell count in clozapine users.

Science.gov (United States)

Bui, H N; Bogers, J P A M; Cohen, D; Njo, T; Herruer, M H

2016-12-01

We evaluated the performance of the HemoCue WBC DIFF, a point-of-care device for total and differential white cell count, primarily to test its suitability for the mandatory white blood cell monitoring in clozapine use. Leukocyte count and 5-part differentiation was performed by the point-of-care device and by routine laboratory method in venous EDTA-blood samples from 20 clozapine users, 20 neutropenic patients, and 20 healthy volunteers. From the volunteers, also a capillary sample was drawn. Intra-assay reproducibility and drop-to-drop variation were tested. The correlation between both methods in venous samples was r > 0.95 for leukocyte, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts. The correlation between point-of-care (capillary sample) and routine (venous sample) methods for these cells was 0.772; 0.817 and 0.798, respectively. Only for leukocyte and neutrophil counts, the intra-assay reproducibility was sufficient. The point-of-care device can be used to screen for leukocyte and neutrophil counts. Because of the relatively high measurement uncertainty and poor correlation with venous samples, we recommend to repeat the measurement with a venous sample if cell counts are in the lower reference range. In case of clozapine therapy, neutropenia can probably be excluded if high neutrophil counts are found and patients can continue their therapy. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

High accuracy attitude reference stabilization and pointing using the Teledyne SDG-5 gyro and the DRIRU II inertial reference unit

Science.gov (United States)

Green, K. N.; van Alstine, R. L.

This paper presents the current performance levels of the SDG-5 gyro, a high performance two-axis dynamically tuned gyro, and the DRIRU II redundant inertial reference unit relating to stabilization and pointing applications. Also presented is a discussion of a product improvement program aimed at further noise reductions to meet the demanding requirements of future space defense applications.

Point-and-stare operation and high-speed image acquisition in real-time hyperspectral imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Driver, Richard D.; Bannon, David P.; Ciccone, Domenic; Hill, Sam L.

2010-04-01

The design and optical performance of a small-footprint, low-power, turnkey, Point-And-Stare hyperspectral analyzer, capable of fully automated field deployment in remote and harsh environments, is described. The unit is packaged for outdoor operation in an IP56 protected air-conditioned enclosure and includes a mechanically ruggedized fully reflective, aberration-corrected hyperspectral VNIR (400-1000 nm) spectrometer with a board-level detector optimized for point and stare operation, an on-board computer capable of full system data-acquisition and control, and a fully functioning internal hyperspectral calibration system for in-situ system spectral calibration and verification. Performance data on the unit under extremes of real-time survey operation and high spatial and high spectral resolution will be discussed. Hyperspectral acquisition including full parameter tracking is achieved by the addition of a fiber-optic based downwelling spectral channel for solar illumination tracking during hyperspectral acquisition and the use of other sensors for spatial and directional tracking to pinpoint view location. The system is mounted on a Pan-And-Tilt device, automatically controlled from the analyzer's on-board computer, making the HyperspecTM particularly adaptable for base security, border protection and remote deployments. A hyperspectral macro library has been developed to control hyperspectral image acquisition, system calibration and scene location control. The software allows the system to be operated in a fully automatic mode or under direct operator control through a GigE interface.

High-dimensional change-point estimation: Combining filtering with convex optimization

OpenAIRE

Soh, Yong Sheng; Chandrasekaran, Venkat

2017-01-01

We consider change-point estimation in a sequence of high-dimensional signals given noisy observations. Classical approaches to this problem such as the filtered derivative method are useful for sequences of scalar-valued signals, but they have undesirable scaling behavior in the high-dimensional setting. However, many high-dimensional signals encountered in practice frequently possess latent low-dimensional structure. Motivated by this observation, we propose a technique for high-dimensional...

Cognitive load predicts point-of-care ultrasound simulator performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldekhyl, Sara; Cavalcanti, Rodrigo B; Naismith, Laura M

2018-02-01

The ability to maintain good performance with low cognitive load is an important marker of expertise. Incorporating cognitive load measurements in the context of simulation training may help to inform judgements of competence. This exploratory study investigated relationships between demographic markers of expertise, cognitive load measures, and simulator performance in the context of point-of-care ultrasonography. Twenty-nine medical trainees and clinicians at the University of Toronto with a range of clinical ultrasound experience were recruited. Participants answered a demographic questionnaire then used an ultrasound simulator to perform targeted scanning tasks based on clinical vignettes. Participants were scored on their ability to both acquire and interpret ultrasound images. Cognitive load measures included participant self-report, eye-based physiological indices, and behavioural measures. Data were analyzed using a multilevel linear modelling approach, wherein observations were clustered by participants. Experienced participants outperformed novice participants on ultrasound image acquisition. Ultrasound image interpretation was comparable between the two groups. Ultrasound image acquisition performance was predicted by level of training, prior ultrasound training, and cognitive load. There was significant convergence between cognitive load measurement techniques. A marginal model of ultrasound image acquisition performance including prior ultrasound training and cognitive load as fixed effects provided the best overall fit for the observed data. In this proof-of-principle study, the combination of demographic and cognitive load measures provided more sensitive metrics to predict ultrasound simulator performance. Performance assessments which include cognitive load can help differentiate between levels of expertise in simulation environments, and may serve as better predictors of skill transfer to clinical practice.

Stable long-time semiclassical description of zero-point energy in high-dimensional molecular systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Garashchuk, Sophya; Rassolov, Vitaly A

2008-07-14

Semiclassical implementation of the quantum trajectory formalism [J. Chem. Phys. 120, 1181 (2004)] is further developed to give a stable long-time description of zero-point energy in anharmonic systems of high dimensionality. The method is based on a numerically cheap linearized quantum force approach; stabilizing terms compensating for the linearization errors are added into the time-evolution equations for the classical and nonclassical components of the momentum operator. The wave function normalization and energy are rigorously conserved. Numerical tests are performed for model systems of up to 40 degrees of freedom.

Interesting Interest Points

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aanæs, Henrik; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup

2012-01-01

on spatial invariance of interest points under changing acquisition parameters by measuring the spatial recall rate. The scope of this paper is to investigate the performance of a number of existing well-established interest point detection methods. Automatic performance evaluation of interest points is hard......Not all interest points are equally interesting. The most valuable interest points lead to optimal performance of the computer vision method in which they are employed. But a measure of this kind will be dependent on the chosen vision application. We propose a more general performance measure based...... position. The LED illumination provides the option for artificially relighting the scene from a range of light directions. This data set has given us the ability to systematically evaluate the performance of a number of interest point detectors. The highlights of the conclusions are that the fixed scale...

Seismic Performances of Replaceable Steel Connection with Low Yield Point Metal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoxiang He

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Compared with the traditional steel rigid connection, the beam-column connections with weakened beam end have better ductility, but the local buckling in the weakened zone and the overall lateral deformation may occur in strong earthquake. The replaceable steel connection with low yield point metal is proposed based on the concept of earthquake resilient structure. In this connection, the weakened parts in the flange slab and web plate are filled with low yield point metal, and the metal firstly yields and dissipates energy sufficiently in earthquake; hence, the main parts are intact and the yield point metal can be replaced. The seismic performances of the three types of connections which include traditional connection, beam end weakened connection, and replaceable connection with low yield point steel under low cycle reciprocating load are studied. In addition, the energy dissipation capacity and damage characteristics of different connections are compared. The multiscale finite element models for the steel frames with different connections are analyzed by time-history method; both the computational efficiency and the accuracy are assured. The analysis results approve that the replaceable connection can confine the major damage in the replacement material and have better energy dissipation ability, safety reserves, and resilient ability.

Dual-cloud point extraction coupled to high performance liquid chromatography for simultaneous determination of trace sulfonamide antimicrobials in urine and water samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Nong, Chunyan; Niu, Zongliang; Li, Pengyao; Wang, Chunping; Li, Wanyu; Wen, Yingying

2017-04-15

Dual-cloud point extraction (dCPE) was successfully developed for simultaneous extraction of trace sulfonamides (SAs) including sulfamerazine (SMZ), sulfadoxin (SDX), sulfathiazole (STZ) in urine and water samples. Several parameters affecting the extraction were optimized, such as sample pH, concentration of Triton X-114, extraction temperature and time, centrifugation rate and time, back-extraction solution pH, back-extraction temperature and time, back-extraction centrifugation rate and time. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was applied for the SAs analysis. Under the optimum extraction and detection conditions, successful separation of the SAs was achieved within 9min, and excellent analytical performances were attained. Good linear relationships (R 2 ≥0.9990) between peak area and concentration for SMZ and STZ were optimized from 0.02 to 10μg/mL, for SDX from 0.01 to 10μg/mL. Detection limits of 3.0-6.2ng/mL were achieved. Satisfactory recoveries ranging from 85 to 108% were determined with urine, lake and tap water spiked at 0.2, 0.5 and 1μg/mL, respectively, with relative standard deviations (RSDs, n=6) of 1.5-7.7%. This method was demonstrated to be convenient, rapid, cost-effective and environmentally benign, and could be used as an alternative tool to existing methods for analysing trace residues of SAs in urine and water samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimal Design of Fixed-Point and Floating-Point Arithmetic Units for Scientific Applications

OpenAIRE

Pongyupinpanich, Surapong

2012-01-01

The challenge in designing a floating-point arithmetic co-processor/processor for scientific and engineering applications is to improve the performance, efficiency, and computational accuracy of the arithmetic unit. The arithmetic unit should efficiently support several mathematical functions corresponding to scientific and engineering computation demands. Moreover, the computations should be performed as fast as possible with a high degree of accuracy. Thus, this thesis proposes algorithm, d...

Using NVMe Gen3 PCIe SSD Cards in High-density Servers for High-performance Big Data Transfer Over Multiple Network Channels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Chin [SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

2015-02-07

This Technical Note describes how the Zettar team came up with a data transfer cluster design that convincingly proved the feasibility of using high-density servers for high-performance Big Data transfers. It then outlines the tests, operations, and observations that address a potential over-heating concern regarding the use of Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification (NVMHCI aka NVM Express or NVMe) Gen 3 PCIe SSD cards in high-density servers. Finally, it points out the possibility of developing a new generation of high-performance Science DMZ data transfer system for the data-intensive research community and commercial enterprises.

Performance evaluation of FSO system using wavelength and time diversity over malaga turbulence channel with pointing errors

Science.gov (United States)

Balaji, K. A.; Prabu, K.

2018-03-01

There is an immense demand for high bandwidth and high data rate systems, which is fulfilled by wireless optical communication or free space optics (FSO). Hence FSO gained a pivotal role in research which has a added advantage of both cost-effective and licence free huge bandwidth. Unfortunately the optical signal in free space suffers from irradiance and phase fluctuations due to atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors which deteriorates the signal and degrades the performance of communication system over longer distance which is undesirable. In this paper, we have considered polarization shift keying (POLSK) system applied with wavelength and time diversity technique over Malaga(M)distribution to mitigate turbulence induced fading. We derived closed form mathematical expressions for estimating the systems outage probability and average bit error rate (BER). Ultimately from the results we can infer that wavelength and time diversity schemes enhances these systems performance.

Hierarchical spatial point process analysis for a plant community with high biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Illian, Janine B.; Møller, Jesper; Waagepetersen, Rasmus

2009-01-01

A complex multivariate spatial point pattern of a plant community with high biodiversity is modelled using a hierarchical multivariate point process model. In the model, interactions between plants with different post-fire regeneration strategies are of key interest. We consider initially a maxim...

Search for high energy cosmic neutrino point sources with ANTARES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halladjian, G.

2010-01-01

The aim of this thesis is the search for high energy cosmic neutrinos emitted by point sources with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The detection of high energy cosmic neutrinos can bring answers to important questions such as the origin of cosmic rays and the γ-rays emission processes. In the first part of the thesis, the neutrino flux emitted by galactic and extragalactic sources and the number of events which can be detected by ANTARES are estimated. This study uses the measured γ-ray spectra of known sources taking into account the γ-ray absorption by the extragalactic background light. In the second part of the thesis, the absolute pointing of the ANTARES telescope is evaluated. Being located at a depth of 2475 m in sea water, the orientation of the detector is determined by an acoustic positioning system which relies on low and high frequency acoustic waves measurements between the sea surface and the bottom. The third part of the thesis is a search for neutrino point sources in the ANTARES data. The search algorithm is based on a likelihood ratio maximization method. It is used in two search strategies; 'the candidate sources list strategy' and 'the all sky search strategy'. Analysing 2007+2008 data, no discovery is made and the world's best upper limits on neutrino fluxes from various sources in the Southern sky are established. (author)

Using tipping points of emotional intelligence and cognitive competencies to predict financial performance of leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyatzis, Richard E

2006-01-01

Competencies have been shown to differentiate outstanding managers and leaders from their less effective counterparts. Some of the competencies related to effectiveness reflect cognitive intelligence, but many of them are behavioral manifestations of emotional intelligence. Meanwhile, the performance measures used have often been an approximation of effectiveness. A study of leaders in a multi-national, consulting company shows that the frequency with which they demonstrate a variety of competencies, as seen by others, predicts financial performance in the seven quarters following the competency assessment. This, like other studies only clarify which competencies are necessary for outstanding performance. Borrowing from complexity theory, a tipping point analysis allows examination of how much of the competency is sufficient for outstanding performance. Using the tipping point analysis shows an even greater impact of competencies on the financial performance measures of the leaders in the study. The emotional intelligence competencies constituted most (i.e., 13/14) of the validated competencies predicting financial performance.

Testing of the BipiColombo Antenna Pointing Mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Campo, Pablo; Barrio, Aingeru; Martin, Fernando

2015-09-01

BepiColombo is an ESA mission to Mercury, its planetary orbiter (MPO) has two antenna pointing mechanism, High gain antenna (HGA) pointing mechanism steers and points a large reflector which is integrated at system level by TAS-I Rome. Medium gain antenna (MGA) APM points a 1.5 m boom with a horn antenna. Both radiating elements are exposed to sun fluxes as high as 10 solar constants without protections.A previous paper [1] described the design and development process to solve the challenges of performing in harsh environment.. Current paper is focused on the testing process of the qualification units. Testing performance of antenna pointing mechanism in its specific environmental conditions has required special set-up and techniques. The process has provided valuable feedback on the design and the testing methods which have been included in the PFM design and tests.Some of the technologies and components were developed on dedicated items priort to EQM, but once integrated, test behaviour had relevant differences.Some of the major concerns for the APM testing are:- Create during the thermal vacuum testing the qualification temperature map with gradients along the APM. From of 200oC to 70oC.- Test in that conditions the radio frequency and pointing performances adding also high RF power to check the power handling and self-heating of the rotary joint.- Test in life up to 12000 equivalent APM revolutions, that is 14.3 million motor revolutions in different thermal conditions.- Measure low thermal distortion of the mechanical chain, being at the same time insulated from external environment and interfaces (55 arcsec pointing error)- Perform deployment of large items guaranteeing during the process low humidity, below 5% to protect dry lubrication- Verify stability with representative inertia of large boom or reflector 20 Kgm2.

High Performance Marine Vessels

CERN Document Server

Yun, Liang

2012-01-01

High Performance Marine Vessels (HPMVs) range from the Fast Ferries to the latest high speed Navy Craft, including competition power boats and hydroplanes, hydrofoils, hovercraft, catamarans and other multi-hull craft. High Performance Marine Vessels covers the main concepts of HPMVs and discusses historical background, design features, services that have been successful and not so successful, and some sample data of the range of HPMVs to date. Included is a comparison of all HPMVs craft and the differences between them and descriptions of performance (hydrodynamics and aerodynamics). Readers will find a comprehensive overview of the design, development and building of HPMVs. In summary, this book: Focuses on technology at the aero-marine interface Covers the full range of high performance marine vessel concepts Explains the historical development of various HPMVs Discusses ferries, racing and pleasure craft, as well as utility and military missions High Performance Marine Vessels is an ideal book for student...

ASIC For Complex Fixed-Point Arithmetic

Science.gov (United States)

Petilli, Stephen G.; Grimm, Michael J.; Olson, Erlend M.

1995-01-01

Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) performs 24-bit, fixed-point arithmetic operations on arrays of complex-valued input data. High-performance, wide-band arithmetic logic unit (ALU) designed for use in computing fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) and for performing ditigal filtering functions. Other applications include general computations involved in analysis of spectra and digital signal processing.

LHCb: LHCb Muon System Performance at High Luminosity

CERN Multimedia

Pinci, D

2013-01-01

The LHCb detector was conceived to operate with an average Luminosity of $2 \\times 10^{32}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. During the last year of LHC run, the whole apparatus has shown to be able to perfectly acquire and manage data produced at a Luminosity as high as $4 \\times 10^{32}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. In these conditions, all sub-detectors operated at average particle rates higher than the design ones and in particular the Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers equipping the Muon System had to sustain a particle rate as high as 250 kHz/cm$^{2}$. In order to study the possibility of increasing the Luminosity of operation of the whole experiment several tests were performed. The effective beam Luminosity at the interaction point of LHCb was increased in several steps up to $10^{33}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and in each step the behavior of all the detectors in the Muon System was recorded. The data analysis has allowed to study the performance of the Muon System as a function of the LHC Luminosity and the results are r...

High Response Dew Point Measurement System for a Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Blumenthal, Philip Z.

1996-01-01

A new high response on-line measurement system has been developed to continuously display and record the air stream dew point in the NASA Lewis 10 x 10 supersonic wind tunnel. Previous instruments suffered from such problems as very slow response, erratic readings, and high susceptibility to contamination. The system operates over the entire pressure level range of the 10 x 10 SWT, from less than 2 psia to 45 psia, without the need for a vacuum pump to provide sample flow. The system speeds up tunnel testing, provides large savings in tunnel power costs and provides the dew point input for the data-reduction subroutines which calculate test section conditions.

A high-performance Riccati based solver for tree-structured quadratic programs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frison, Gianluca; Kouzoupis, Dimitris; Diehl, Moritz

2017-01-01

the online solution of such problems challenging and the development of tailored solvers crucial. In this paper, an interior point method is presented that can solve Quadratic Programs (QPs) arising in multi-stage MPC efficiently by means of a tree-structured Riccati recursion and a high-performance linear...... algebra library. A performance comparison with code-generated and general purpose sparse QP solvers shows that the computation times can be significantly reduced for all problem sizes that are practically relevant in embedded MPC applications. The presented implementation is freely available as part...

Large Aperture "Photon Bucket" Optical Receiver Performance in High Background Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Vilnrotter, Victor A.; Hoppe, D.

2011-01-01

The potential development of large aperture groundbased "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications, with acceptable performance even when pointing close to the sun, is receiving considerable attention. Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere becomes significant at micron wavelengths when pointing to a few degrees from the sun, even with the narrowest bandwidth optical filters. In addition, high quality optical apertures in the 10-30 meter range are costly and difficult to build with accurate surfaces to ensure narrow fields-of-view (FOV). One approach currently under consideration is to polish the aluminum reflector panels of large 34-meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large FOV generated by state-of-the-art polished aluminum panels with rms surface accuracies on the order of a few microns, corresponding to several-hundred micro-radian FOV, hence generating centimeter-diameter focused spots at the Cassegrain focus of 34-meter antennas. Assuming pulse-position modulation (PPM) and Poisson-distributed photon-counting detection, a "polished panel" photon-bucket receiver with large FOV will collect hundreds of background photons per PPM slot, along with comparable signal photons due to its large aperture. It is demonstrated that communications performance in terms of PPM symbol-error probability in high-background high-signal environments depends more strongly on signal than on background photons, implying that large increases in background energy can be compensated by a disproportionally small increase in signal energy. This surprising result suggests that large optical apertures with relatively poor surface quality may nevertheless provide acceptable performance for deep-space optical communications, potentially enabling the construction of cost-effective hybrid RF/optical receivers in the future.

High-low search for a point in an interval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shah, M.

2011-01-01

Analysis of the high-low search game for a point on an interval. By limiting the number of guesses for the searcher, it is possible to study the game numerically. The principal motivation for this analysis is an old and open question due to Baston, Bostock and Alpern: is the optimal strategy for the

Sugar Determination in Foods with a Radially Compressed High Performance Liquid Chromatography Column.

Science.gov (United States)

Ondrus, Martin G.; And Others

1983-01-01

Advocates use of Waters Associates Radial Compression Separation System for high performance liquid chromatography. Discusses instrumentation and reagents, outlining procedure for analyzing various foods and discussing typical student data. Points out potential problems due to impurities and pump seal life. Suggests use of ribose as internal…

A multichannel smartphone optical biosensor for high-throughput point-of-care diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li-Ju; Chang, Yu-Chung; Sun, Rongrong; Li, Lei

2017-01-15

Current reported smartphone spectrometers are only used to monitor or measure one sample at a time. For the first time, we demonstrate a multichannel smartphone spectrometer (MSS) as an optical biosensor that can simultaneously optical sense multiple samples. In this work, we developed a novel method to achieve the multichannel optical spectral sensing with nanometer resolution on a smartphone. A 3D printed cradle held the smartphone integrated with optical components. This optical sensor performed accurate and reliable spectral measurements by optical intensity changes at specific wavelength or optical spectral shifts. A custom smartphone multi-view App was developed to control the optical sensing parameters and to align each sample to the corresponding channel. The captured images were converted to the transmission spectra in the visible wavelength range from 400nm to 700nm with the high resolution of 0.2521nm per pixel. We validated the performance of this MSS via measuring the concentrations of protein and immunoassaying a type of human cancer biomarker. Compared to the standard laboratory instrument, the results sufficiently showed that this MSS can achieve the comparative analysis detection limits, accuracy and sensitivity. We envision that this multichannel smartphone optical biosensor will be useful in high-throughput point-of-care diagnostics with its minimizing size, light weight, low cost and data transmission function. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sustainability, Eco-Point and Engineering Performance of Different Workability OPC Fly-Ash Mortar Mixes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putri Zulaiha Razi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the engineering performance and CO2 footprint of mortar mixers by replacing Portland cement with 10%, 20%, 40% and 60% fly ash, a common industrial waste material. Samples of self-compacting mortar (SCM were prepared with four different water/binder ratios and varying dosages of superplasticizer to give three ranges of workability, i.e., normal, high and self-compacting mortar mix. The engineering performance was assessed in term of compressive strength after designated curing periods for all mixes. CO2 footprint was the environmental impact indicator of each production stage. The optimum mix obtained was at 10% replacement rate for all mixes. Total production emission reduced by 56% when the fly ash replacement rate increased from 0% to 60% (maximum. This is translated to a reduction of 80% in eco-points (assuming that the energy consumption rate of production with 0% fly ash is at 100%. Such re-utilization is encouraged since it is able to reduce possible soil toxicity due to sulfur leaching by 5% to 27% and landfill area by 15% to 91% on average.

High performance systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vigil, M.B. [comp.

1995-03-01

This document provides a written compilation of the presentations and viewgraphs from the 1994 Conference on High Speed Computing given at the High Speed Computing Conference, {open_quotes}High Performance Systems,{close_quotes} held at Gleneden Beach, Oregon, on April 18 through 21, 1994.

Student Bedtimes, Academic Performance, and Health in a Residential High School.

Science.gov (United States)

Wernette, Maliah J; Emory, Jan

2017-08-01

Inadequate sleep among adolescents is considered an epidemic in the United States. Late night bedtimes could be an important factor in academic performance and health with consequences continuing throughout adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between late night bedtimes, academic performance (grade point average [GPA]), and utilization of health care (school nurse visits) in a residential high school. The data were collected from archival records for one academic semester. The statistical analysis employed the nonparametric Pearson's correlation coefficient ( r) with the standard level of significance (α = .05). Positive and inverse linear relationships were found between bedtime and school nurse visits ( p < .00001) and bedtime and GPA ( p = .007). The findings suggest students' late night bedtimes may be related to increased school nurse visits and lower academic performance. Adolescent late night bedtimes may be an important consideration for academic success and maintaining health in residential high schools.

Performance analysis of commercial multiple-input-multiple-output access point in distributed antenna system.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yuting; Aighobahi, Anthony E; Gomes, Nathan J; Xu, Kun; Li, Jianqiang

2015-03-23

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the throughput of IEEE 802.11n 2x2 multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) signals in a radio-over-fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) with different fiber lengths and power imbalance. Both a MIMO-supported access point (AP) and a spatial-diversity-supported AP were separately employed in the experiments. Throughput measurements were carried out with wireless users at different locations in a typical office environment. For the different fiber length effect, the results indicate that MIMO signals can maintain high throughput when the fiber length difference between the two remote antenna units (RAUs) is under 100 m and falls quickly when the length difference is greater. For the spatial diversity signals, high throughput can be maintained even when the difference is 150 m. On the other hand, the separation of the MIMO antennas allows additional freedom in placing the antennas in strategic locations for overall improved system performance, although it may also lead to received power imbalance problems. The results show that the throughput performance drops in specific positions when the received power imbalance is above around 13 dB. Hence, there is a trade-off between the extent of the wireless coverage for moderate bit-rates and the area over which peak bit-rates can be achieved.

Evaluation of 2-point, 3-point, and 6-point Dixon magnetic resonance imaging with flexible echo timing for muscle fat quantification.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimm, Alexandra; Meyer, Heiko; Nickel, Marcel D; Nittka, Mathias; Raithel, Esther; Chaudry, Oliver; Friedberger, Andreas; Uder, Michael; Kemmler, Wolfgang; Quick, Harald H; Engelke, Klaus

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare 2-point (2pt), 3-point (3pt), and 6-point (6pt) Dixon magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences with flexible echo times (TE) to measure proton density fat fraction (PDFF) within muscles. Two subject groups were recruited (G1: 23 young and healthy men, 31 ± 6 years; G2: 50 elderly men, sarcopenic, 77 ± 5 years). A 3-T MRI system was used to perform Dixon imaging on the left thigh. PDFF was measured with six Dixon prototype sequences: 2pt, 3pt, and 6pt sequences once with optimal TEs (in- and opposed-phase echo times), lower resolution, and higher bandwidth (optTE sequences) and once with higher image resolution (highRes sequences) and shortest possible TE, respectively. Intra-fascia PDFF content was determined. To evaluate the comparability among the sequences, Bland-Altman analysis was performed. The highRes 6pt Dixon sequences served as reference as a high correlation of this sequence to magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been shown before. The PDFF difference between the highRes 6pt Dixon sequence and the optTE 6pt, both 3pt, and the optTE 2pt was low (between 2.2% and 4.4%), however, not to the highRes 2pt Dixon sequence (33%). For the optTE sequences, difference decreased with the number of echoes used. In conclusion, for Dixon sequences with more than two echoes, the fat fraction measurement was reliable with arbitrary echo times, while for 2pt Dixon sequences, it was reliable with dedicated in- and opposed-phase echo timing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Bandwidth Tactical-Network Data Analysis in a High-Performance-Computing (HPC) Environment: Transport Protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/User Datagram Protocol [TCP/UDP]) Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

the network Mac8 Medium Access Control ( Mac ) (Ethernet) address observed as destination for outgoing packets subsessionid8 Zero-based index of...15. SUBJECT TERMS tactical networks, data reduction, high-performance computing, data analysis, big data 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...Integer index of row cts_deid Device (instrument) Identifier where observation took place cts_collpt Collection point or logical observation point on

Documenting Student Performance: An Alternative to the Traditional Calculation of Grade Point Averages

Science.gov (United States)

Volwerk, Johannes J.; Tindal, Gerald

2012-01-01

Traditionally, students in secondary and postsecondary education have grade point averages (GPA) calculated, and a cumulative GPA computed to summarize overall performance at their institutions. GPAs are used for acknowledgement and awards, as partial evidence for admission to other institutions (colleges and universities), and for awarding…

A Family of High-Performance Solvers for Linear Model Predictive Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frison, Gianluca; Sokoler, Leo Emil; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

2014-01-01

In Model Predictive Control (MPC), an optimization problem has to be solved at each sampling time, and this has traditionally limited the use of MPC to systems with slow dynamic. In this paper, we propose an e_cient solution strategy for the unconstrained sub-problems that give the search......-direction in Interior-Point (IP) methods for MPC, and that usually are the computational bottle-neck. This strategy combines a Riccati-like solver with the use of high-performance computing techniques: in particular, in this paper we explore the performance boost given by the use of single precision computation...

Point Topography and Within-Session Learning Are Important Predictors of Pet Dogs’ (Canis lupus familiaris Performance on Human Guided Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorey, Nicole R.

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Pet domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris are generally considered successful on object choice tasks, reliably following human points to a target. However, defining the specific topography of the point types utilized and assessing the potential for dogs to generalize their responses across similar point types has received little attention. In Experiment 1, we assessed pet dogs’ performance on an object choice task utilizing nine different point types that varied across the dimensions of movement, duration, and distance. These dimensions reliably predicted the performance of pet dogs on this task. In Experiment 2, pet dogs presented with nine different point types in the order of increasing difficulty performed better on more difficult point types than both naive dogs and dogs experiencing the nine points in the order of decreasing difficulty. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the attentional state of the experimenter (as in perspective taking studies and found that human orientation was not a strong predictor of performance on pointing tasks. The results of this study indicate that dogs do not reliably follow all point types without additional training or experience. Furthermore, dogs appear to continuously learn about the dimensions of human points, adjusting their behavior accordingly, even over the course of experimental testing. These findings bring claims of pet dogs’ spontaneous success on pointing tasks into question. The ability to learn about, and respond flexibly to, human gestures may benefit pet dogs living in human homes more than a spontaneous responsiveness to specific gesture types.

The use of low density high accuracy (LDHA) data for correction of high density low accuracy (HDLA) point cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Rak, Michal Bartosz; Wozniak, Adam; Mayer, J. R. R.

2016-06-01

Coordinate measuring techniques rely on computer processing of coordinate values of points gathered from physical surfaces using contact or non-contact methods. Contact measurements are characterized by low density and high accuracy. On the other hand optical methods gather high density data of the whole object in a short time but with accuracy at least one order of magnitude lower than for contact measurements. Thus the drawback of contact methods is low density of data, while for non-contact methods it is low accuracy. In this paper a method for fusion of data from two measurements of fundamentally different nature: high density low accuracy (HDLA) and low density high accuracy (LDHA) is presented to overcome the limitations of both measuring methods. In the proposed method the concept of virtual markers is used to find a representation of pairs of corresponding characteristic points in both sets of data. In each pair the coordinates of the point from contact measurements is treated as a reference for the corresponding point from non-contact measurement. Transformation enabling displacement of characteristic points from optical measurement to their match from contact measurements is determined and applied to the whole point cloud. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm was evaluated by comparison with data from a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Three surfaces were used for this evaluation: plane, turbine blade and engine cover. For the planar surface the achieved improvement was of around 200 μm. Similar results were obtained for the turbine blade but for the engine cover the improvement was smaller. For both freeform surfaces the improvement was higher for raw data than for data after creation of mesh of triangles.

Executive Functioning: Relationship with High School Student Role Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donna P. Mann

2015-10-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND. Student role performance for academic success in secondary education is under represented in the occupational therapy literature, despite the persistently high dropout rate in the United States (Stillwell & Sable, 2013. Executive dysfunction is one of many possible contributors to difficulties in the classroom (Dirette & Kolak, 2004 and is a better indicator of school performance than IQ (Diamond, 2012. This research examined executive functioning of both alternative and traditional high school students to determine if there is a relationship between executive function and academic success as measured by cumulative grade point average. METHOD. 132 high school students from three different school settings were given the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Self Report (BRIEF-SR. The Global Executive Composite (GEC and individual subscale scores were compared to GPA. RESULTS. No significant difference in GEC scores was found among settings. Subscale scores for “inhibition” and “task completion” were significantly different in the alternative school setting. A weak negative correlation was seen between the GEC and GPA. However, academically unsuccessful students scored statistically lower on the GEC. CONCLUSION. Global executive dysfunction was not predicted by setting but was seen in academically unsuccessful students.

Analysis of point source size on measurement accuracy of lateral point-spread function of confocal Raman microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Shihang; Zhang, Li; Hu, Yao; Ding, Xiang

2018-01-01

Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM) has matured to become one of the most powerful instruments in analytical science because of its molecular sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Compared with conventional Raman Microscopy, CRM can perform three dimensions mapping of tiny samples and has the advantage of high spatial resolution thanking to the unique pinhole. With the wide application of the instrument, there is a growing requirement for the evaluation of the imaging performance of the system. Point-spread function (PSF) is an important approach to the evaluation of imaging capability of an optical instrument. Among a variety of measurement methods of PSF, the point source method has been widely used because it is easy to operate and the measurement results are approximate to the true PSF. In the point source method, the point source size has a significant impact on the final measurement accuracy. In this paper, the influence of the point source sizes on the measurement accuracy of PSF is analyzed and verified experimentally. A theoretical model of the lateral PSF for CRM is established and the effect of point source size on full-width at half maximum of lateral PSF is simulated. For long-term preservation and measurement convenience, PSF measurement phantom using polydimethylsiloxane resin, doped with different sizes of polystyrene microspheres is designed. The PSF of CRM with different sizes of microspheres are measured and the results are compared with the simulation results. The results provide a guide for measuring the PSF of the CRM.

Extraction of Features from High-resolution 3D LiDaR Point-cloud Data

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, P.; Kreylos, O.; Hamann, B.; Kellogg, L. H.; Cowgill, E. S.; Yikilmaz, M. B.; Hering-Bertram, M.; Hagen, H.

2008-12-01

Airborne and tripod-based LiDaR scans are capable of producing new insight into geologic features by providing high-quality 3D measurements of the landscape. High-resolution LiDaR is a promising method for studying slip on faults, erosion, and other landscape-altering processes. LiDaR scans can produce up to several billion individual point returns associated with the reflection of a laser from natural and engineered surfaces; these point clouds are typically used to derive a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM). Currently, there exist only few methods that can support the analysis of the data at full resolution and in the natural 3D perspective in which it was collected by working directly with the points. We are developing new algorithms for extracting features from LiDaR scans, and present method for determining the local curvature of a LiDaR data set, working directly with the individual point returns of a scan. Computing the curvature enables us to rapidly and automatically identify key features such as ridge-lines, stream beds, and edges of terraces. We fit polynomial surface patches via a moving least squares (MLS) approach to local point neighborhoods, determining curvature values for each point. The size of the local point neighborhood is defined by a user. Since both terrestrial and airborne LiDaR scans suffer from high noise, we apply additional pre- and post-processing smoothing steps to eliminate unwanted features. LiDaR data also captures objects like buildings and trees complicating greatly the task of extracting reliable curvature values. Hence, we use a stochastic approach to determine whether a point can be reliably used to estimate curvature or not. Additionally, we have developed a graph-based approach to establish connectivities among points that correspond to regions of high curvature. The result is an explicit description of ridge-lines, for example. We have applied our method to the raw point cloud data collected as part of the Geo

Point source search techniques in ultra high energy gamma ray astronomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexandreas, D.E.; Biller, S.; Dion, G.M.; Lu, X.Q.; Yodh, G.B.; Berley, D.; Goodman, J.A.; Haines, T.J.; Hoffman, C.M.; Horch, E.; Sinnis, C.; Zhang, W.

1993-01-01

Searches for point astrophysical sources of ultra high energy (UHE) gamma rays are plagued by large numbers of background events from isotropic cosmic rays. Some of the methods that have been used to estimate the expected number of background events coming from the direction of a possible source are found to contain biases. Search techniques that avoid this problem are described. There is also a discussion of how to optimize the sensitivity of a search to emission from a point source. (orig.)

Effect of high wind conditions on AHX performance for PFBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goyal, P.; Datta, Anu; Verma, Vishnu; Singh, R.K.

2013-05-01

In case of normal shut down or station blackout condition the core decay heat is removed by Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal System (SGDHRS) in PFBR. The Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is under construction at Kalpakkam. SGDHRS remove decay heat from the core and dissipate it into the environment with the help of Air Heat Exchanger (AHX). SGDHRS consists of four redundant numbers of totally independent circuits capable of removing decay heat from the hot pool through natural convection in the primary and intermediate sodium sides as well as in the air side. Each circuit consists of a sodium to sodium heat exchanger (DHX) and a sodium to AHX connected to intermediate sodium circuit, AHX is located at a higher elevation compared to DHX. AHX is serpentine type finned tube compact heat exchanger with sodium in the tube side and air flowing over finned tubes. A tall stack provides the driving force for the natural convection of air flow through the AHX, when the dampers are opened. The AHX is placed outside of Reactor Control Building (RCB), on the roof of Steam Generator Building. Due to the presence of nearby buildings around the stack, the AHX performance under high wind condition may be affected. A CFD simulation using CFD-ACE+ code has been carried in which effect of high wind condition and nearby building on AHX performance have been studied. For high wind condition various orientation of wind movement was considered for parametric studies. AHX performance for all the cases were compared with the results that obtained for the absence of nearby buildings. A comparative table was prepared to understand how the AHX performance is effected with the high wind condition for various direction and with the presence of nearby building. It was observed that AHX performance is influenced by high wind conditions in most of the cases for with and without presence of nearby building. Hence to ensure the optimal performance of the AHX under high wind conditions its

Characterizing the Motion of Solar Magnetic Bright Points at High Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Van Kooten, Samuel J.; Cranmer, Steven R.

2017-11-01

Magnetic bright points in the solar photosphere, visible in both continuum and G-band images, indicate footpoints of kilogauss magnetic flux tubes extending to the corona. The power spectrum of bright-point motion is thus also the power spectrum of Alfvén wave excitation, transporting energy up flux tubes into the corona. This spectrum is a key input in coronal and heliospheric models. We produce a power spectrum of bright-point motion using radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations, exploiting spatial resolution higher than can be obtained in present-day observations, while using automated tracking to produce large data quantities. We find slightly higher amounts of power at all frequencies compared to observation-based spectra, while confirming the spectrum shape of recent observations. This also provides a prediction for observations of bright points with DKIST, which will achieve similar resolution and high sensitivity. We also find a granule size distribution in support of an observed two-population distribution, and we present results from tracking passive tracers, which show a similar power spectrum to that of bright points. Finally, we introduce a simplified, laminar model of granulation, with which we explore the roles of turbulence and of the properties of the granulation pattern in determining bright-point motion.

High sensitivity point-of-care device for direct virus diagnostics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiilerich-Pedersen, Katrine; Dapra, Johannes; Cherré, Solène

2013-01-01

Influenza infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality, carry the risk of pandemics, and pose a considerable economic burden worldwide. To improve the management of the illness, it is essential with accurate and fast point-of-care diagnostic tools for use in the field or at the pat...

Mixed Uranium/Refractory Metal Carbide Fuels for High Performance Nuclear Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knight, Travis; Anghaie, Samim

2002-01-01

Single phase, solid-solution mixed uranium/refractory metal carbides have been proposed as an advanced nuclear fuel for advanced, high-performance reactors. Earlier studies of mixed carbides focused on uranium and either thorium or plutonium as a fuel for fast breeder reactors enabling shorter doubling owing to the greater fissile atom density. However, the mixed uranium/refractory carbides such as (U, Zr, Nb)C have a lower uranium densities but hold significant promise because of their ultra-high melting points (typically greater than 3700 K), improved material compatibility, and high thermal conductivity approaching that of the metal. Various compositions of (U, Zr, Nb)C were processed with 5% and 10% metal mole fraction of uranium. Stoichiometric samples were processed from the constituent carbide powders, while hypo-stoichiometric samples with carbon-to-metal (C/M) ratios of 0.92 were processed from uranium hydride, graphite, and constituent refractory carbide powders. Processing techniques of cold uniaxial pressing, dynamic magnetic compaction, sintering, and hot pressing were investigated to optimize the processing parameters necessary to produce high density (low porosity), single phase, solid-solution mixed carbide nuclear fuels for testing. This investigation was undertaken to evaluate and characterize the performance of these mixed uranium/refractory metal carbides for high performance, ultra-safe nuclear reactor applications. (authors)

Development of high performance cladding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiuchi, Kiyoshi

2003-01-01

The developments of superior next-generation light water reactor are requested on the basis of general view points, such as improvement of safety, economics, reduction of radiation waste and effective utilization of plutonium, until 2030 year in which conventional reactor plants should be renovate. Improvements of stainless steel cladding for conventional high burn-up reactor to more than 100 GWd/t, developments of manufacturing technology for reduced moderation-light water reactor (RMWR) of breeding ratio beyond 1.0 and researches of water-materials interaction on super critical pressure-water cooled reactor are carried out in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. Stable austenite stainless steel has been selected for fuel element cladding of advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR). The austenite stain less has the superiority for anti-irradiation properties, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength. A hard spectrum of neutron energy up above 0.1 MeV takes place in core of the reduced moderation-light water reactor, as liquid metal-fast breeding reactor (LMFBR). High performance cladding for the RMWR fuel elements is required to get anti-irradiation properties, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength also. Slow strain rate test (SSRT) of SUS 304 and SUS 316 are carried out for studying stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Irradiation tests in LMFBR are intended to obtain irradiation data for damaged quantity of the cladding materials. (M. Suetake)

Special Physical Preparation of High Schoolers for Performing Parkour Exercises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Т. М. Кравчук

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The objective is to ground and develop a methodology of special physical preparation of high schoolers for performing parkour elements, and to experimentally verify its effectiveness. Materials and methods: Kharkiv secondary school No. 84 served as the grounds for the study. The participants in the study were boys aged 15-17: 10 persons – in the reference group, and 10 persons – in the experimental group. The methods of the study: theoretical analysis and collation of scientific and methodological literature; pedagogical observation; video recording; biomechanical analysis; talks with experts; pedagogical experiment; mathematical and statistical methods of research materials processing. Results: The experimental group showed positive improvement in the balancing technique from 3.5 points before the experiment to 6.3 after the experiment (p < 0.05; a considerable increase in points in the jumping technique, including jumps onto the wall bars hand-gripping its edge, jumps into landing with a roll, and jumps over obstacle – from 2.9, 4.2 and 4.6 points respectively at the beginning of the experiment to 5.9, 6.7 and 7.8 points respectively after the experiment (p < 0.05; positive significant improvement in the wall bars running results – from 3.2 points at the beginning of the experiment to 6.7 after the experiment (p < 0.05. Conclusions: special sets of exercises have been designed to develop and improve these abilities in parkour, and the effectiveness of the designed methodology has been experimentally verified. The study has proved that, when used in physical training of high schoolers, the special sets of exercises intended to develop parkourists’ speed, strength and coordination abilities contribute to a significant increase in the level of the technique of execution of the main parkour elements.

Spatial point process analysis for a plant community with high biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Illian, Janine; Møller, Jesper; Waagepetersen, Rasmus Plenge

A complex multivariate spatial point pattern for a plant community with high biodiversity is modelled using a hierarchical multivariate point process model. In the model, interactions between plants with different post-fire regeneration strategies are of key interest. We consider initially...... a maximum likelihood approach to inference where problems arise due to unknown interaction radii for the plants. We next demonstrate that a Bayesian approach provides a flexible framework for incorporating prior information concerning the interaction radii. From an ecological perspective, we are able both...

Transfer from point-of-care Ultrasonography training to diagnostic performance on patients--a randomized controlled trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Todsen, Tobias; Jensen, Morten Lind; Tolsgaard, Martin Grønnebæk

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Clinicians are increasingly using point-of-care ultrasonography for bedside examinations of patients. However, proper training is needed in this technique, and it is unknown whether the skills learned from focused Ultrasonography courses are being transferred to diagnostic performance...... test and binary logistic regression, respectively. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the performance score between the intervention group (27.4%) and the control group (18.0%, P = .004) and the diagnostic accuracy between the intervention group (65%) and the control group (39%, P = .014......). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians could successfully transfer learning from an Ultrasonography course to improve diagnostic performance on patients. However, our results also indicate a need for more training when new technologies such as point-of-care ultrasonography are introduced....

INDIAN POINT REACTOR STARTUP AND PERFORMANCE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deddens, J. C.; Batch, M. L.

1963-09-15

The testing program for the Indian Point Reactor is discussed. The thermal and hydraulic evaluation of the primary coolant system is discussed. Analyses of fuel loading and initial criticality, measurement of operating coefficients of reactivity, control rod group reactivity worths, and xenon evaluation are presented. (R.E.U.)

Development of a High Performance Spacer Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Kee Nam; Song, K. N.; Yoon, K. H. (and others)

2007-03-15

A spacer grid in a LWR fuel assembly is a key structural component to support fuel rods and to enhance the heat transfer from the fuel rod to the coolant. In this research, the main research items are the development of inherent and high performance spacer grid shapes, the establishment of mechanical/structural analysis and test technology, and the set-up of basic test facilities for the spacer grid. The main research areas and results are as follows. 1. 18 different spacer grid candidates have been invented and applied for domestic and US patents. Among the candidates 16 are chosen from the patent. 2. Two kinds of spacer grids are finally selected for the advanced LWR fuel after detailed performance tests on the candidates and commercial spacer grids from a mechanical/structural point of view. According to the test results the features of the selected spacer grids are better than those of the commercial spacer grids. 3. Four kinds of basic test facilities are set up and the relevant test technologies are established. 4. Mechanical/structural analysis models and technology for spacer grid performance are developed and the analysis results are compared with the test results to enhance the reliability of the models.

Participation in High School Career and Technical Education and Postsecondary Enrollment. Data Point. NCES 2018-043

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Lisa

2017-01-01

Among the public high school graduating class of 2004, 89 percent of graduates enrolled in postsecondary education at some point in the 8 years after graduation. This Data Point uses data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) and its 2012 follow-up. This Data Point examines ELS students who were 2004 public high school…

Performance of mercury triple point cells made in Brazil

OpenAIRE

Petkovic, Slavolhub Garcia; Santiago, José Felipe Neves; Teixeira, Renato Nunes; Santos, Paulo Roberto da Fonseca

2002-01-01

ABSTRACT: Fixed−points cells are primary standards in ITS-90. They contain reference material with a purity of 99.999 % or more. The gallium in a melting−point cell, for example, can reach a purity of 99.99999 %. This level of purity is not easy to obtain. However, substances like water and mercury can be purified by means of distillation and chemical procedures. This paper presents the results of mercury triple−point cells made in Brazil that were directly compared to a mercury triple−point ...

Implementing Molecular Dynamics for Hybrid High Performance Computers - 1. Short Range Forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, W. Michael; Wang, Peng; Plimpton, Steven J.; Tharrington, Arnold N.

2011-01-01

The use of accelerators such as general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) have become popular in scientific computing applications due to their low cost, impressive floating-point capabilities, high memory bandwidth, and low electrical power requirements. Hybrid high performance computers, machines with more than one type of floating-point processor, are now becoming more prevalent due to these advantages. In this work, we discuss several important issues in porting a large molecular dynamics code for use on parallel hybrid machines - (1) choosing a hybrid parallel decomposition that works on central processing units (CPUs) with distributed memory and accelerator cores with shared memory, (2) minimizing the amount of code that must be ported for efficient acceleration, (3) utilizing the available processing power from both many-core CPUs and accelerators, and (4) choosing a programming model for acceleration. We present our solution to each of these issues for short-range force calculation in the molecular dynamics package LAMMPS. We describe algorithms for efficient short range force calculation on hybrid high performance machines. We describe a new approach for dynamic load balancing of work between CPU and accelerator cores. We describe the Geryon library that allows a single code to compile with both CUDA and OpenCL for use on a variety of accelerators. Finally, we present results on a parallel test cluster containing 32 Fermi GPGPUs and 180 CPU cores.

Correlations between PANCE performance, physician assistant program grade point average, and selection criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Gina; Imel, Brittany; Nelson, Alyssa; Hale, LaDonna S; Jansen, Nick

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine correlations between first-time Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) scores and pass/fail status, physician assistant (PA) program didactic grade point average (GPA), and specific selection criteria. This retrospective study evaluated graduating classes from 2007, 2008, and 2009 at a single program (N = 119). There was no correlation between PANCE performance and undergraduate grade point average (GPA), science prerequisite GPA, or health care experience. There was a moderate correlation between PANCE pass/fail and where students took science prerequisites (r = 0.27, P = .003) but not with the PANCE score. PANCE scores were correlated with overall PA program GPA (r = 0.67), PA pharmacology grade (r = 0.68), and PA anatomy grade (r = 0.41) but not with PANCE pass/fail. Correlations between selection criteria and PANCE performance were limited, but further research regarding the influence of prerequisite institution type may be warranted and may improve admission decisions. PANCE scores and PA program GPA correlations may guide academic advising and remediation decisions for current students.

Focus point in dark matter selected high-scale supersymmetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zheng, Sibo [Department of Physics, Chongqing University,Chongqing, 401331 P.R. (China)

2015-03-19

In this paper, we explore conditions for focus point in the high-scale supersymmetry with the weak-scale gaugino masses. In this context the tension between the naturalness and LHC 2013 data about supersymmetry as well as the cold dark matter candidate are addressed simultaneously. It is shown that the observed Higgs mass can be satisfied in a wide classes of new models, which are realized by employing the non-minimal gauge mediation.

High performance control strategy for single-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped traction four-quadrant converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kejian, Song; Konstantinou, Georgios; Jing, Li

2017-01-01

Operational data from Chinese railways indicate a number of challenges for traction four-quadrant converter (4QC) control including low-order voltage and current harmonics and reference tracking. A control strategy for a single-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped 4QC employed in the electric...

Molecular beam epitaxy for high-performance Ga-face GaN electron devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaun, Stephen W; Speck, James S; Wong, Man Hoi; Mishra, Umesh K

2013-01-01

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has emerged as a powerful technique for growing GaN-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) epistructures. Over the past decade, HEMT performance steadily improved, mainly through the optimization of device fabrication processes. Soon, HEMT performance will be limited by the crystalline quality of the epistructure. MBE offers heterostructure growth with highly abrupt interfaces, low point defect concentrations, and very low carbon and hydrogen impurity concentrations. Minimizing parasitic leakage pathways and resistances is essential in the growth of HEMTs for high-frequency and high-power applications. Through growth on native substrates with very low threading dislocation density, low-leakage HEMTs with very low on-resistance can be realized. Ga-rich plasma-assisted MBE (PAMBE) has been studied extensively, and it is clear that this technique has inherent limitations, including a high density of leakage pathways and a very small growth parameter space. Relatively new MBE growth techniques—high-temperature N-rich PAMBE and ammonia-based MBE—are being developed to circumvent the shortcomings of Ga-rich PAMBE. (invited review)

Fabrication of High-performance Sm-Fe-N isotropic bulk magnets by a combination of High-pressure compaction and current sintering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takagi, Kenta, E-mail: k-takagi@aist.go.jp [Materials Research Institute for Sustainable Development, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Nagoya 463-8560 (Japan); Nakayama, Hiroyuki; Ozaki, Kimihiro; Kobayashi, Keizo [Materials Research Institute for Sustainable Development, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Nagoya 463-8560 (Japan)

2012-04-15

TbCu{sub 7}-type Sm-Fe-N coarse powders in the flake form were consolidated without a bonding medium using a low-thermal-load process of current sintering combined with high-pressure compression. When compacted at 1.2 GPa, the relative density of the powder was increased by 80% with close stacking of the flake particles. Although the subsequent current heating was only briefly performed at a low temperature of 400 Degree-Sign C to avoid decomposition, the compact was consolidated into a rigid bulk in which the particles were bonded at the atomic level. Finally, by using cyclic compaction, this process produced bulk magnets with a density of 92% that exhibited the highest maximum energy product (BH)max of 16.2 MGOe, which surpasses that of conventional isotropic Sm-Fe-N bond magnets. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We conduct a consolidation of Sm{sub 1}Fe{sub 7}N bulk magnets without thermal decomposition. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Rapid current sintering with high-pressure compaction is used as a low-thermal-load process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In this process, sintering occurs at a temperature of 400 Degree-Sign C, which is below the decomposition point. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer As a result, bulk magnets with a density of over 92% are obtained without decomposition. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These magnets exhibit the highest (BH)max (16.2 MGOe) among isotropic Sm-Fe-N magnets.

High performance work practices, innovation and performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Frances; Newton, Cameron; Johnston, Kim

2013-01-01

Research spanning nearly 20 years has provided considerable empirical evidence for relationships between High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) and various measures of performance including increased productivity, improved customer service, and reduced turnover. What stands out from......, and Africa to examine these various questions relating to the HPWP-innovation-performance relationship. Each paper discusses a practice that has been identified in HPWP literature and potential variables that can facilitate or hinder the effects of these practices of innovation- and performance...

Investigation of point triangulation methods for optimality and performance in Structure from Motion systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Structure from Motion (SFM) systems are composed of cameras and structure in the form of 3D points and other features. It is most often that the structure components outnumber the cameras by a great margin. It is not uncommon to have a configuration with 3 cameras observing more than 500 3D points...... an overview of existing triangulation methods with emphasis on performance versus optimality, and will suggest a fast triangulation algorithm based on linear constraints. The structure and camera motion estimation in a SFM system is based on the minimization of some norm of the reprojection error between...

Implementation of the Two-Point Angular Correlation Function on a High-Performance Reconfigurable Computer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr V. Kindratenko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We present a parallel implementation of an algorithm for calculating the two-point angular correlation function as applied in the field of computational cosmology. The algorithm has been specifically developed for a reconfigurable computer. Our implementation utilizes a microprocessor and two reconfigurable processors on a dual-MAP SRC-6 system. The two reconfigurable processors are used as two application-specific co-processors. Two independent computational kernels are simultaneously executed on the reconfigurable processors while data pre-fetching from disk and initial data pre-processing are executed on the microprocessor. The overall end-to-end algorithm execution speedup achieved by this implementation is over 90× as compared to a sequential implementation of the algorithm executed on a single 2.8 GHz Intel Xeon microprocessor.

Performance summary on a high power dense plasma focus x-ray lithography point source producing 70 nm line features in AlGaAs microcircuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petr, Rodney; Bykanov, Alexander; Freshman, Jay; Reilly, Dennis; Mangano, Joseph; Roche, Maureen; Dickenson, Jason; Burte, Mitchell; Heaton, John

2004-01-01

A high average power dense plasma focus (DPF), x-ray point source has been used to produce ∼70 nm line features in AlGaAs-based monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits (MMICs). The DPF source has produced up to 12 J per pulse of x-ray energy into 4π steradians at ∼1 keV effective wavelength in ∼2 Torr neon at pulse repetition rates up to 60 Hz, with an effective x-ray yield efficiency of ∼0.8%. Plasma temperature and electron concentration are estimated from the x-ray spectrum to be ∼170 eV and ∼5·10 19 cm -3 , respectively. The x-ray point source utilizes solid-state pulse power technology to extend the operating lifetime of electrodes and insulators in the DPF discharge. By eliminating current reversals in the DPF head, an anode electrode has demonstrated a lifetime of more than 5 million shots. The x-ray point source has also been operated continuously for 8 h run times at 27 Hz average pulse recurrent frequency. Measurements of shock waves produced by the plasma discharge indicate that overpressure pulses must be attenuated before a collimator can be integrated with the DPF point source

High performance inkjet printed phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes based on small molecules commonly used in vacuum processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Sung-Hoon [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jang-Joo, E-mail: jjkim@snu.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyong-Jun, E-mail: hkim@kongju.ac.kr [Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongju National University, Cheonan, 330-717 (Korea, Republic of)

2012-09-30

High efficiency phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are realized by inkjet printing based on small molecules commonly used in vacuum processes in spite of the limitation of the limited solubility. The OLEDs used the inkjet printed 5 wt.% tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III) (Ir(ppy){sub 3}) doped in 4,4 Prime -Bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) as the light emitting layer on various small molecule based hole transporting layers, which are widely used in the fabrication of OLEDs by vacuum processes. The OLEDs resulted in the high power and the external quantum efficiencies of 29.9 lm/W and 11.7%, respectively, by inkjet printing the CBP:Ir(ppy){sub 3} on a 40 nm thick 4,4 Prime ,4 Double-Prime -tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine layer. The performance was very close to a vacuum deposited device with a similar structure. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Effective inkjet printed organic light emitting diode (OLED) technique is explored. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Solution process on commonly used hole transporting material (HTM) is demonstrated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Triplet energy overlap of HTM and emitting material is the key to the performance. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple inkjet printed OLED provides the high current efficiency of 40 cd/A.

Performance Comparison of Widely-Used Maximum Power Point Tracker Algorithms under Real Environmental Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DURUSU, A.

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Maximum power point trackers (MPPTs play an essential role in extracting power from photovoltaic (PV panels as they make the solar panels to operate at the maximum power point (MPP whatever the changes of environmental conditions are. For this reason, they take an important place in the increase of PV system efficiency. MPPTs are driven by MPPT algorithms and a number of MPPT algorithms are proposed in the literature. The comparison of the MPPT algorithms in literature are made by a sun simulator based test system under laboratory conditions for short durations. However, in this study, the performances of four most commonly used MPPT algorithms are compared under real environmental conditions for longer periods. A dual identical experimental setup is designed to make a comparison between two the considered MPPT algorithms as synchronized. As a result of this study, the ranking among these algorithms are presented and the results show that Incremental Conductance (IC algorithm gives the best performance.

Performance Analysis of Multi-Hop Heterodyne FSO Systems over Malaga Turbulent Channels with Pointing Error Using Mixture Gamma Distribution

KAUST Repository

Alheadary, Wael Ghazy

2017-11-16

This work investigates the end-to-end performance of a free space optical amplify-and-forward relaying system using heterodyne detection over Malaga turbulence channels at the presence of pointing error. In order to overcome the analytical difficulties of the proposed composite channel model, we employed the mixture Gamma (MG) distribution. The proposed model shows a high accurate and tractable approximation just by adjusting some parameters. More specifically, we derived new closed-form expression for average bit error rate employing rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation in term of MG distribution and generalized power series of the Meijer\\'s G- function. The closed-form has been validated numerically and asymptotically at high signal to noise ratio.

Analysing Music with Point-Set Compression Algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meredith, David

2016-01-01

Several point-set pattern-discovery and compression algorithms designed for analysing music are reviewed and evaluated. Each algorithm takes as input a point-set representation of a score in which each note is represented as a point in pitch-time space. Each algorithm computes the maximal...... and sections in pieces of classical music. On the first task, the best-performing algorithms achieved success rates of around 84%. In the second task, the best algorithms achieved mean F1 scores of around 0.49, with scores for individual pieces rising as high as 0.71....

Predicting Freshman Grade Point Average From College Admissions Test Scores and State High School Test Scores

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Koretz

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The current focus on assessing “college and career readiness” raises an empirical question: How do high school tests compare with college admissions tests in predicting performance in college? We explored this using data from the City University of New York and public colleges in Kentucky. These two systems differ in the choice of college admissions test, the stakes for students on the high school test, and demographics. We predicted freshman grade point average (FGPA from high school GPA and both college admissions and high school tests in mathematics and English. In both systems, the choice of tests had only trivial effects on the aggregate prediction of FGPA. Adding either test to an equation that included the other had only trivial effects on prediction. Although the findings suggest that the choice of test might advantage or disadvantage different students, it had no substantial effect on the over- and underprediction of FGPA for students classified by race-ethnicity or poverty.

Performance of Mercury Triple-Point Cells Made in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Petkovic, S. G.; Santiago, J. F. N.; Filho, R. R.; Teixeira, R. N.; Santos, P. R. F.

2003-09-01

Fixed-points cells are primary standards in ITS-90. They contain reference material with a purity of 99.999 % or more. The gallium in a melting-point cell, for example, can reach a purity of 99.99999 %. This level of purity is not easy to obtain. However, substances like water and mercury can be purified by means of distillation and chemical procedures. This paper presents the results of mercury triple-point cells made in Brazil that were directly compared to a mercury triple-point cell of 99.999% purity. This reference cell, made by Isotech (England), was previously compared to cells from CENAM (Mexico) and NRC (Canada) and the maximum deviation found was approximately 0.4 mK. The purification stage started with a sample of mercury 99.3 % pure, and the repeated use of both mechanical and chemical processes led to a purification grade considered good enough for calibration of standard platinum resistance thermometers. The purification procedures, the method of construction of the cell, the laboratory facilities, the comparison results and the budget of uncertainties are described in this paper. All of the cells tested have a triple-point temperature within 0.25 mK of the triple-point temperature of the Inmetro reference cell.

Is it better to be average? High and low performance as predictors of employee victimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Jaclyn M; Patel, Pankaj C; Raver, Jana L

2014-03-01

Given increased interest in whether targets' behaviors at work are related to their victimization, we investigated employees' job performance level as a precipitating factor for being victimized by peers in one's work group. Drawing on rational choice theory and the victim precipitation model, we argue that perpetrators take into consideration the risks of aggressing against particular targets, such that high performers tend to experience covert forms of victimization from peers, whereas low performers tend to experience overt forms of victimization. We further contend that the motivation to punish performance deviants will be higher when performance differentials are salient, such that the effects of job performance on covert and overt victimization will be exacerbated by group performance polarization, yet mitigated when the target has high equity sensitivity (benevolence). Finally, we investigate whether victimization is associated with future performance impairments. Results from data collected at 3 time points from 576 individuals in 62 work groups largely support the proposed model. The findings suggest that job performance is a precipitating factor to covert victimization for high performers and overt victimization for low performers in the workplace with implications for subsequent performance.

High-resolution wave number spectrum using multi-point measurements in space – the Multi-point Signal Resonator (MSR technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Narita

2011-02-01

Full Text Available A new analysis method is presented that provides a high-resolution power spectrum in a broad wave number domain based on multi-point measurements. The analysis technique is referred to as the Multi-point Signal Resonator (MSR and it benefits from Capon's minimum variance method for obtaining the proper power spectral density of the signal as well as the MUSIC algorithm (Multiple Signal Classification for considerably reducing the noise part in the spectrum. The mathematical foundation of the analysis method is presented and it is applied to synthetic data as well as Cluster observations of the interplanetary magnetic field. Using the MSR technique for Cluster data we find a wave in the solar wind propagating parallel to the mean magnetic field with relatively small amplitude, which is not identified by the Capon spectrum. The Cluster data analysis shows the potential of the MSR technique for studying waves and turbulence using multi-point measurements.

Simple, parallel, high-performance virtual machines for extreme computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chokoufe Nejad, Bijan; Ohl, Thorsten; Reuter, Jurgen

2014-11-01

We introduce a high-performance virtual machine (VM) written in a numerically fast language like Fortran or C to evaluate very large expressions. We discuss the general concept of how to perform computations in terms of a VM and present specifically a VM that is able to compute tree-level cross sections for any number of external legs, given the corresponding byte code from the optimal matrix element generator, O'Mega. Furthermore, this approach allows to formulate the parallel computation of a single phase space point in a simple and obvious way. We analyze hereby the scaling behaviour with multiple threads as well as the benefits and drawbacks that are introduced with this method. Our implementation of a VM can run faster than the corresponding native, compiled code for certain processes and compilers, especially for very high multiplicities, and has in general runtimes in the same order of magnitude. By avoiding the tedious compile and link steps, which may fail for source code files of gigabyte sizes, new processes or complex higher order corrections that are currently out of reach could be evaluated with a VM given enough computing power.

RavenDB high performance

CERN Document Server

Ritchie, Brian

2013-01-01

RavenDB High Performance is comprehensive yet concise tutorial that developers can use to.This book is for developers & software architects who are designing systems in order to achieve high performance right from the start. A basic understanding of RavenDB is recommended, but not required. While the book focuses on advanced topics, it does not assume that the reader has a great deal of prior knowledge of working with RavenDB.

Generalized syntheses of nanocrystal-graphene hybrids in high-boiling-point organic solvents.

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Danny Wei-Ping; Yuan, Fang-Wei; Chang, Yan-Cheng; Li, Guo-An; Tuan, Hsing-Yu

2012-08-07

Nanocrystal-graphene have been proposed as a new kind of promising hybrid for a wide range of application areas including catalysts, electronics, sensors, biomedicine, and energy storage, etc. Although a variety of methods have been developed for the preparation of hybrids, a facile and general synthetic approach is still highly required. In this study, nanocrystal-graphene hybrids were successfully synthesized in high-boiling-point organic solvents. Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were modified by oleylamine (OLA) to form a OLA-GO complex in order to be readily incorporated into hydrophobic synthesis. A rich library of highly crystalline nanocrystals, with types including noble metal, metal oxide, magnetic material and semiconductor were successfully grown on chemically converted graphene (CCG), which is simultaneously reduced from GO during the synthesis. High boiling-point solvents afford sufficient thermal energy to assure the high-quality crystalline nature of NCs, therefore the post-annealing process is obviated. Controlled experiments revealed that OLA-GO triggers heterogeneous nucleation and serves as excellent nuclei anchorage media. The protocol developed here brings one step closer to achieve "unity in diversity" on the preparation of nanocrystal-graphene hybrids.

Point-of-care heart-type fatty acid binding protein versus high-sensitivity troponin T testing in emergency patients at high risk for acute coronary syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Kellens, Sebastiaan; Verbrugge, Frederik H; Vanmechelen, Maxime; Grieten, Lars; Van Lierde, Johan; Dens, Joseph; Vrolix, Mathias; Vandervoort, Pieter

2016-04-01

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin testing is used to detect myocardial damage in patients with acute chest pain. Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) may be an alternative, available as point-of-care test. Patients (n=203) referred by general practitioners for suspected acute coronary syndrome or presenting with typical chest pain and one major cardiovascular risk factor at the emergency department were prospectively included in a single-centre cohort study. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-TnT) and point-of-care H-FABP testing were concomitantly performed at admission and after 6h. Maximal hs-TnT levels above the 99th percentile were observed in 152 patients (75%) with 127 (63%) fulfilling criteria for myocardial infarction. Upon admission, hs-TnT and H-FABP were associated with an area under the curve (95% CI) of 0.83 (0.77-0.89) and 0.79 (0.73-0.85), respectively, to predict myocardial infarction, which increased to 0.93 (0.90-0.97) and 0.88 (0.84-0.93), respectively, after 6h. The diagnostic accuracy for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction was somewhat lower with an area under the curve (95% CI) of 0.80 (0.72-0.87), 0.90 (0.84-0.96), 0.73 (0.64-0.81) and 0.77 (0.67-0.86), respectively. When assessment was performed within 3h of chest pain onset, diagnostic accuracy of H-FABP versus hs-TnT was similar. Each standard deviation increase in admission H-FABP was associated with a 68% relative risk increase of all-cause mortality (p-value=0.027) during 666 ± 155 days of follow-up. Point-of-care H-FABP testing has lower diagnostic accuracy compared with hs-TnT assessment in patients with high pre-test acute coronary syndrome probability, but might be of interest when assessment is possible early after chest pain onset. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

New definitions of pointing stability - ac and dc effects. [constant and time-dependent pointing error effects on image sensor performance

Science.gov (United States)

Lucke, Robert L.; Sirlin, Samuel W.; San Martin, A. M.

1992-01-01

For most imaging sensors, a constant (dc) pointing error is unimportant (unless large), but time-dependent (ac) errors degrade performance by either distorting or smearing the image. When properly quantified, the separation of the root-mean-square effects of random line-of-sight motions into dc and ac components can be used to obtain the minimum necessary line-of-sight stability specifications. The relation between stability requirements and sensor resolution is discussed, with a view to improving communication between the data analyst and the control systems engineer.

Laser-induced single point nanowelding of silver nanowires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Shuowei; Li, Qiang, E-mail: qiangli@zju.edu.cn; Liu, Guoping; Yang, Hangbo; Yang, Yuanqing; Zhao, Ding; Wang, Wei; Qiu, Min, E-mail: minqiu@zju.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

2016-03-21

Nanowelding of nanomaterials opens up an emerging set of applications in transparent conductors, thin-film solar cells, nanocatalysis, cancer therapy, and nanoscale patterning. Single point nanowelding (SPNW) is highly demanded for building complex nanostructures. In this letter, the precise control of SPNW of silver nanowires is explored in depth, where the nanowelding is laser-induced through the plasmonic resonance enhanced photothermal effect. It is shown that the illumination position is a critical factor for the nanowelding process. As an example of performance enhancement, output at wire end can be increased by 65% after welding for a plasmonic nanocoupler. Thus, single point nanowelding technique shows great potentials for high-performance electronic and photonic devices based on nanowires, such as nanoelectronic circuits and plasmonic nanodevices.

Laser-induced single point nanowelding of silver nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Shuowei; Li, Qiang; Liu, Guoping; Yang, Hangbo; Yang, Yuanqing; Zhao, Ding; Wang, Wei; Qiu, Min

2016-01-01

Nanowelding of nanomaterials opens up an emerging set of applications in transparent conductors, thin-film solar cells, nanocatalysis, cancer therapy, and nanoscale patterning. Single point nanowelding (SPNW) is highly demanded for building complex nanostructures. In this letter, the precise control of SPNW of silver nanowires is explored in depth, where the nanowelding is laser-induced through the plasmonic resonance enhanced photothermal effect. It is shown that the illumination position is a critical factor for the nanowelding process. As an example of performance enhancement, output at wire end can be increased by 65% after welding for a plasmonic nanocoupler. Thus, single point nanowelding technique shows great potentials for high-performance electronic and photonic devices based on nanowires, such as nanoelectronic circuits and plasmonic nanodevices.

The Fuel Accident Condition Simulator (FACS) furnace system for high temperature performance testing of VHTR fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Demkowicz, Paul A., E-mail: paul.demkowicz@inl.gov [Idaho National Laboratory, 2525 Fremont Avenue, MS 3860, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3860 (United States); Laug, David V.; Scates, Dawn M.; Reber, Edward L.; Roybal, Lyle G.; Walter, John B.; Harp, Jason M. [Idaho National Laboratory, 2525 Fremont Avenue, MS 3860, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3860 (United States); Morris, Robert N. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

2012-10-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A system has been developed for safety testing of irradiated coated particle fuel. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer FACS system is designed to facilitate remote operation in a shielded hot cell. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer System will measure release of fission gases and condensable fission products. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Fuel performance can be evaluated at temperatures as high as 2000 Degree-Sign C in flowing helium. - Abstract: The AGR-1 irradiation of TRISO-coated particle fuel specimens was recently completed and represents the most successful such irradiation in US history, reaching peak burnups of greater than 19% FIMA with zero failures out of 300,000 particles. An extensive post-irradiation examination (PIE) campaign will be conducted on the AGR-1 fuel in order to characterize the irradiated fuel properties, assess the in-pile fuel performance in terms of coating integrity and fission metals release, and determine the fission product retention behavior during high temperature safety testing. A new furnace system has been designed, built, and tested to perform high temperature accident tests. The Fuel Accident Condition Simulator furnace system is designed to heat fuel specimens at temperatures up to 2000 Degree-Sign C in helium while monitoring the release of volatile fission metals (e.g. Cs, Ag, Sr, and Eu), iodine, and fission gases (Kr, Xe). Fission gases released from the fuel to the sweep gas are monitored in real time using dual cryogenic traps fitted with high purity germanium detectors. Condensable fission products are collected on a plate attached to a water-cooled cold finger that can be exchanged periodically without interrupting the test. Analysis of fission products on the condensation plates involves dry gamma counting followed by chemical analysis of selected isotopes. This paper will describe design and operational details of the Fuel Accident Condition Simulator furnace system and the associated

MRI monitoring of lesions created at temperature below the boiling point and of lesions created above the boiling point using high intensity focused ultrasound

OpenAIRE

Damianou, C.; Ioannides, K.; Hadjisavvas, V.; Mylonas, N.; Couppis, A.; Iosif, D.; Kyriacou, P. A.

2010-01-01

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was utilized to monitor lesions created at temperature below the boiling point and lesions created at temperature above the boiling point using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in freshly excised kidney, liver and brain and in vivo rabbit kidney and brain. T2-weighted fast spin echo (FSE) was proven as an excellent MRI sequence that can detect lesions with temperature above the boiling point in kidney. This advantage is attributed to the significant di...

Improving efficiency and color purity of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) through addition of a high boiling-point solvent of 1-chloronaphthalene.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Junfei; Yu, Lei; Sen Zhao; Ying, Lei; Liu, Feng; Yang, Wei; Peng, Junbiao; Cao, Yong

2016-07-15

In this work, the β-phase of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO) was used as a probe to study the effects of the addition of a high boiling-point solvent of 1-chloronaphthalene on the nanostructures and electroluminescence of PFO films. Both absorption and photoluminescence spectra showed that the content of the β-phase in PFO film was obviously enhanced as a result of the addition of a small amount of 1-chloronaphthalene into the processing solvent of p-xylenes. Apparently rougher morphology associated with the effectively enhanced ordering of polymer chains across the entire film was observed for films processed from p-xylene solutions consisting of a certain amount of 1-chloronaphthalene, as revealed by atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction measurements. In addition to the effects on the nanostructures of films, of particular interest is that the performance and color purity of polymer light-emitting devices can be noticeably enhanced upon the addition of 1-chloronaphthalene. These observations highlight the importance of controlling the nanostructures of the emissive layer, and demonstrate that the addition of a low volume ratio of high boiling-point additive can be a promising strategy to attain high-performance polymer light-emitting diodes.

Electrospun Metal Nanofiber Webs as High-Performance Transparent Electrode

KAUST Repository

Wu, Hui

2010-10-13

Transparent electrodes, indespensible in displays and solar cells, are currently dominated by indium tin oxide (ITO) films although the high price of indium, brittleness of films, and high vacuum deposition are limiting their applications. Recently, solution-processed networks of nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and silver nanowires have attracted great attention as replacements. A low junction resistance between nanostructures is important for decreasing the sheet resistance. However, the junction resistances between CNTs and boundry resistances between graphene nanostructures are too high. The aspect ratios of silver nanowires are limited to ∼100, and silver is relatively expensive. Here, we show high-performance transparent electrodes with copper nanofiber networks by a low-cost and scalable electrospinning process. Copper nanofibers have ultrahigh aspect ratios of up to 100000 and fused crossing points with ultralow junction resistances, which result in high transmitance at low sheet resistance, e.g., 90% at 50 Ω/sq. The copper nanofiber networks also show great flexibility and stretchabilty. Organic solar cells using copper nanowire networks as transparent electrodes have a power efficiency of 3.0%, comparable to devices made with ITO electrodes. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Electrospun Metal Nanofiber Webs as High-Performance Transparent Electrode

KAUST Repository

Wu, Hui; Hu, Liangbing; Rowell, Michael W.; Kong, Desheng; Cha, Judy J.; McDonough, James R.; Zhu, Jia; Yang, Yuan; McGehee, Michael D.; Cui, Yi

2010-01-01

Transparent electrodes, indespensible in displays and solar cells, are currently dominated by indium tin oxide (ITO) films although the high price of indium, brittleness of films, and high vacuum deposition are limiting their applications. Recently, solution-processed networks of nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and silver nanowires have attracted great attention as replacements. A low junction resistance between nanostructures is important for decreasing the sheet resistance. However, the junction resistances between CNTs and boundry resistances between graphene nanostructures are too high. The aspect ratios of silver nanowires are limited to ∼100, and silver is relatively expensive. Here, we show high-performance transparent electrodes with copper nanofiber networks by a low-cost and scalable electrospinning process. Copper nanofibers have ultrahigh aspect ratios of up to 100000 and fused crossing points with ultralow junction resistances, which result in high transmitance at low sheet resistance, e.g., 90% at 50 Ω/sq. The copper nanofiber networks also show great flexibility and stretchabilty. Organic solar cells using copper nanowire networks as transparent electrodes have a power efficiency of 3.0%, comparable to devices made with ITO electrodes. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

High-Performance Networking

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2003-01-01

The series will start with an historical introduction about what people saw as high performance message communication in their time and how that developed to the now to day known "standard computer network communication". It will be followed by a far more technical part that uses the High Performance Computer Network standards of the 90's, with 1 Gbit/sec systems as introduction for an in depth explanation of the three new 10 Gbit/s network and interconnect technology standards that exist already or emerge. If necessary for a good understanding some sidesteps will be included to explain important protocols as well as some necessary details of concerned Wide Area Network (WAN) standards details including some basics of wavelength multiplexing (DWDM). Some remarks will be made concerning the rapid expanding applications of networked storage.

HIGH PERFORMANCE PIAA CORONAGRAPHY WITH COMPLEX AMPLITUDE FOCAL PLANE MASKS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guyon, Olivier; Martinache, Frantz; Belikov, Ruslan; Soummer, Remi

2010-01-01

We describe a coronagraph approach where the performance of a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph is improved by using a partially transmissive phase-shifting focal plane mask and a Lyot stop. This approach combines the low inner working angle offered by phase mask coronagraphy, the full throughput and uncompromized angular resolution of the PIAA approach, and the design flexibility of Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph. A PIAA complex mask coronagraph (PIAACMC) is fully described by the focal plane mask size, or, equivalently, its complex transmission which ranges from 0 (opaque) to -1 (phase shifting). For all values of the transmission, the PIAACMC theoretically offers full on-axis extinction and 100% throughput at large angular separations. With a pure phase focal plane mask (complex transmission = -1), the PIAACMC offers 50% throughput at 0.64 λ/D while providing total extinction of an on-axis point source. This performance is very close to the 'fundamental performance limit' of coronagraphy derived from first principles. For very high contrast level, imaging performance with PIAACMC is in practice limited by the angular size of the on-axis target (usually a star). We show that this fundamental limitation must be taken into account when choosing the optimal value of the focal plane mask size in the PIAACMC design. We show that the PIAACMC enables visible imaging of Jupiter-like planets at ∼1.2 λ/D from the host star, and can therefore offer almost three times more targets than a PIAA coronagraph optimized for this type of observation. We find that for visible imaging of Earth-like planets, the PIAACMC gain over a PIAA is probably much smaller, as coronagraphic performance is then strongly constrained by stellar angular size. For observations at 'low' contrast (below ∼ 10 8 ), the PIAACMC offers significant performance enhancement over PIAA. This is especially relevant for ground-based high contrast imaging systems in the near-IR, where

Rigorous Line-Based Transformation Model Using the Generalized Point Strategy for the Rectification of High Resolution Satellite Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Hu

2016-09-01

Full Text Available High precision geometric rectification of High Resolution Satellite Imagery (HRSI is the basis of digital mapping and Three-Dimensional (3D modeling. Taking advantage of line features as basic geometric control conditions instead of control points, the Line-Based Transformation Model (LBTM provides a practical and efficient way of image rectification. It is competent to build the mathematical relationship between image space and the corresponding object space accurately, while it reduces the workloads of ground control and feature recognition dramatically. Based on generalization and the analysis of existing LBTMs, a novel rigorous LBTM is proposed in this paper, which can further eliminate the geometric deformation caused by sensor inclination and terrain variation. This improved nonlinear LBTM is constructed based on a generalized point strategy and resolved by least squares overall adjustment. Geo-positioning accuracy experiments with IKONOS, GeoEye-1 and ZiYuan-3 satellite imagery are performed to compare rigorous LBTM with other relevant line-based and point-based transformation models. Both theoretic analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the rigorous LBTM is more accurate and reliable without adding extra ground control. The geo-positioning accuracy of satellite imagery rectified by rigorous LBTM can reach about one pixel with eight control lines and can be further improved by optimizing the horizontal and vertical distribution of control lines.

On the Performance of Free-Space Optical Systems over Generalized Atmospheric Turbulence Channels with Pointing Errors

KAUST Repository

Ansari, Imran Shafique

2015-03-01

Generalized fading has been an imminent part and parcel of wireless communications. It not only characterizes the wireless channel appropriately but also allows its utilization for further performance analysis of various types of wireless communication systems. Under the umbrella of generalized fading channels, a unified performance analysis of a free-space optical (FSO) link over the Malaga (M) atmospheric turbulence channel that accounts for pointing errors and both types of detection techniques (i.e. indirect modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) as well as heterodyne detection) is presented. Specifically, unified exact closed-form expressions for the probability density function (PDF), the cumulative distribution function (CDF), the moment generating function (MGF), and the moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a single link FSO transmission system are presented, all in terms of the Meijer\\'s G function except for the moments that is in terms of simple elementary functions. Then capitalizing on these unified results, unified exact closed-form expressions for various performance metrics of FSO link transmission systems are offered, such as, the outage probability (OP), the higher-order amount of fading (AF), the average error rate for binary and M-ary modulation schemes, and the ergodic capacity (except for IM/DD technique, where closed-form lower bound results are presented), all in terms of Meijer\\'s G functions except for the higher-order AF that is in terms of simple elementary functions. Additionally, the asymptotic results are derived for all the expressions derived earlier in terms of the Meijer\\'s G function in the high SNR regime in terms of simple elementary functions via an asymptotic expansion of the Meijer\\'s G function. Furthermore, new asymptotic expressions for the ergodic capacity in the low as well as high SNR regimes are derived in terms of simple elementary functions via utilizing moments. All the presented results are

High Performance Concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Traian Oneţ

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the last studies and researches accomplished in Cluj-Napoca related to high performance concrete, high strength concrete and self compacting concrete. The purpose of this paper is to raid upon the advantages and inconveniences when a particular concrete type is used. Two concrete recipes are presented, namely for the concrete used in rigid pavement for roads and another one for self-compacting concrete.

HPTA: High-Performance Text Analytics

OpenAIRE

Vandierendonck, Hans; Murphy, Karen; Arif, Mahwish; Nikolopoulos, Dimitrios S.

2017-01-01

One of the main targets of data analytics is unstructured data, which primarily involves textual data. High-performance processing of textual data is non-trivial. We present the HPTA library for high-performance text analytics. The library helps programmers to map textual data to a dense numeric representation, which can be handled more efficiently. HPTA encapsulates three performance optimizations: (i) efficient memory management for textual data, (ii) parallel computation on associative dat...

Pressurized planar electrochromatography, high-performance thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography--comparison of performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Płocharz, Paweł; Klimek-Turek, Anna; Dzido, Tadeusz H

2010-07-16

Kinetic performance, measured by plate height, of High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC), High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Pressurized Planar Electrochromatography (PPEC) was compared for the systems with adsorbent of the HPTLC RP18W plate from Merck as the stationary phase and the mobile phase composed of acetonitrile and buffer solution. The HPLC column was packed with the adsorbent, which was scrapped from the chromatographic plate mentioned. An additional HPLC column was also packed with adsorbent of 5 microm particle diameter, C18 type silica based (LiChrosorb RP-18 from Merck). The dependence of plate height of both HPLC and PPEC separating systems on flow velocity of the mobile phase and on migration distance of the mobile phase in TLC system was presented applying test solute (prednisolone succinate). The highest performance, amongst systems investigated, was obtained for the PPEC system. The separation efficiency of the systems investigated in the paper was additionally confirmed by the separation of test component mixture composed of six hormones. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Outcrop-scale fracture trace identification using surface roughness derived from a high-density point cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Okyay, U.; Glennie, C. L.; Khan, S.

2017-12-01

Owing to the advent of terrestrial laser scanners (TLS), high-density point cloud data has become increasingly available to the geoscience research community. Research groups have started producing their own point clouds for various applications, gradually shifting their emphasis from obtaining the data towards extracting more and meaningful information from the point clouds. Extracting fracture properties from three-dimensional data in a (semi-)automated manner has been an active area of research in geosciences. Several studies have developed various processing algorithms for extracting only planar surfaces. In comparison, (semi-)automated identification of fracture traces at the outcrop scale, which could be used for mapping fracture distribution have not been investigated frequently. Understanding the spatial distribution and configuration of natural fractures is of particular importance, as they directly influence fluid-flow through the host rock. Surface roughness, typically defined as the deviation of a natural surface from a reference datum, has become an important metric in geoscience research, especially with the increasing density and accuracy of point clouds. In the study presented herein, a surface roughness model was employed to identify fracture traces and their distribution on an ophiolite outcrop in Oman. Surface roughness calculations were performed using orthogonal distance regression over various grid intervals. The results demonstrated that surface roughness could identify outcrop-scale fracture traces from which fracture distribution and density maps can be generated. However, considering outcrop conditions and properties and the purpose of the application, the definition of an adequate grid interval for surface roughness model and selection of threshold values for distribution maps are not straightforward and require user intervention and interpretation.

High voltage performance of a dc photoemission electron gun with centrifugal barrel-polished electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez-Garcia, C.; Bullard, D.; Hannon, F.; Wang, Y.; Poelker, M.

2017-09-01

The design and fabrication of electrodes for direct current (dc) high voltage photoemission electron guns can significantly influence their performance, most notably in terms of maximum achievable bias voltage. Proper electrostatic design of the triple-point junction shield electrode minimizes the risk of electrical breakdown (arcing) along the insulator-cable plug interface, while the electrode shape is designed to maintain work, we describe a centrifugal barrel-polishing technique commonly used for polishing the interior surface of superconducting radio frequency cavities but implemented here for the first time to polish electrodes for dc high voltage photoguns. The technique reduced polishing time from weeks to hours while providing surface roughness comparable to that obtained with diamond-paste polishing and with unprecedented consistency between different electrode samples. We present electrode design considerations and high voltage conditioning results to 360 kV (˜11 MV/m), comparing barrel-polished electrode performance to that of diamond-paste polished electrodes. Tests were performed using a dc high voltage photogun with an inverted-geometry ceramic insulator design.

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering '15 : Transactions of the High Performance Computing Center

CERN Document Server

Kröner, Dietmar; Resch, Michael

2016-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in supercomputer simulation. It includes the latest findings from leading researchers using systems from the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in 2015. The reports cover all fields of computational science and engineering ranging from CFD to computational physics and from chemistry to computer science with a special emphasis on industrially relevant applications. Presenting findings of one of Europe’s leading systems, this volume covers a wide variety of applications that deliver a high level of sustained performance. The book covers the main methods in high-performance computing. Its outstanding results in achieving the best performance for production codes are of particular interest for both scientists and engineers. The book comes with a wealth of color illustrations and tables of results.

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering '17 : Transactions of the High Performance Computing Center

CERN Document Server

Kröner, Dietmar; Resch, Michael; HLRS 2017

2018-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in supercomputer simulation. It includes the latest findings from leading researchers using systems from the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in 2017. The reports cover all fields of computational science and engineering ranging from CFD to computational physics and from chemistry to computer science with a special emphasis on industrially relevant applications. Presenting findings of one of Europe’s leading systems, this volume covers a wide variety of applications that deliver a high level of sustained performance.The book covers the main methods in high-performance computing. Its outstanding results in achieving the best performance for production codes are of particular interest for both scientists and engineers. The book comes with a wealth of color illustrations and tables of results.

Failure Analysis of a Modern High Performance Diesel Engine Cylinder Head

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bingbin Guo

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a failure analysis on a modern high performance diesel engine cylinder head made of gray cast iron. Cracks appeared intensively at the intersection of two exhaust passages in the cylinder head. The metallurgical examination was conducted in the crack origin zone and other zones. Meanwhile, the load state of the failure part of the cylinder head was determined through the Finite Element Analysis. The results showed that both the point of the maximum temperature and the point of the maximum thermal-mechanical coupling stress were not in the crack position. The excessive load was not the main cause of the failure. The large cooling rate in the casting process created an abnormal graphite zone that existed below the surface of the exhaust passage (about 1.1 mm depth, which led to the fracture of the cylinder head. In the fractured area, there were a large number of casting defects (dip sand, voids, etc. and inferior graphite structure (type D, type E which caused stress concentration. Moreover, high temperature gas entered the cracks, which caused material corrosion, material oxidization, and crack propagation. Finally, premature fracture of the cylinder head took place.

Practical End-to-End Performance Testing Tool for High Speed 3G-Based Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Shinbo, Hiroyuki; Tagami, Atsushi; Ano, Shigehiro; Hasegawa, Toru; Suzuki, Kenji

High speed IP communication is a killer application for 3rd generation (3G) mobile systems. Thus 3G network operators should perform extensive tests to check whether expected end-to-end performances are provided to customers under various environments. An important objective of such tests is to check whether network nodes fulfill requirements to durations of processing packets because a long duration of such processing causes performance degradation. This requires testers (persons who do tests) to precisely know how long a packet is hold by various network nodes. Without any tool's help, this task is time-consuming and error prone. Thus we propose a multi-point packet header analysis tool which extracts and records packet headers with synchronized timestamps at multiple observation points. Such recorded packet headers enable testers to calculate such holding durations. The notable feature of this tool is that it is implemented on off-the shelf hardware platforms, i.e., lap-top personal computers. The key challenges of the implementation are precise clock synchronization without any special hardware and a sophisticated header extraction algorithm without any drop.

High-Performance Operating Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sharp, Robin

1999-01-01

Notes prepared for the DTU course 49421 "High Performance Operating Systems". The notes deal with quantitative and qualitative techniques for use in the design and evaluation of operating systems in computer systems for which performance is an important parameter, such as real-time applications......, communication systems and multimedia systems....

Performance analysis of multihop heterodyne free-space optical communication over general Malaga turbulence channels with pointing error

KAUST Repository

Alheadary, Wael Ghazy

2017-09-21

This work investigates the end-to-end performance of a free space optical amplify-and-forward (AF) channel-state-information (CSI)-assisted relaying system using heterodyne detection over Malaga turbulence channels at the presence of pointing error employing rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation (R-QAM). More specifically, we present exact closed-form expressions for average bit-error rate for adaptive/non-adaptive modulation, achievable spectral efficiency, and ergodic capacity by utilizing generalized power series of Meijer\\'s G-function. Moreover, asymptotic closed form expressions are provided to validate our work at high power regime. In addition, all the presented analytical results are illustrated using a selected set of numerical results. Moreover, we applied the bisection method to find the optimum beam width for the proposed FSO system.

Fluid–fluid–solid triple point on melting curves at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norman, G E; Saitov, I M

2016-01-01

An analysis is presented of experimental data where fluid-fluid phase transitions are observed for different substances at high temperatures with triple points on melting curves. Viscosity drops point to the structural character of the transition, whereas conductivity jumps remind of both semiconductor-to-metal and plasma nature. The slope of the phase equilibrium dependencies of pressure on temperature and the consequent change of the specific volume, which follows from the Clapeyron-Clausius equation, are discussed. P(V, T) surfaces are presented and discussed for the phase transitions considered in the vicinity of the triple points. The cases of abnormal P(T) dependencies on curves of phase equilibrium are in the focus of discussion. In particular, a P(V, T) surface is presented when both fluid-fluid and melting P(T) curves are abnormal. Particular attention is paid to warm dense hydrogen and deuterium, where remarkable contradictions exist between data of different authors. The possible connection of the P(V, T) surface peculiarities with the experimental data uncertainties is outlined. (paper)

Assessing the Performance of GPS Precise Point Positioning Under Different Geomagnetic Storm Conditions during Solar Cycle 24

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaomin Luo

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The geomagnetic storm, which is an abnormal space weather phenomenon, can sometimes severely affect GPS signal propagation, thereby impacting the performance of GPS precise point positioning (PPP. However, the investigation of GPS PPP accuracy over the global scale under different geomagnetic storm conditions is very limited. This paper for the first time presents the performance of GPS dual-frequency (DF and single-frequency (SF PPP under moderate, intense, and super storms conditions during solar cycle 24 using a large data set collected from about 500 international GNSS services (IGS stations. The global root mean square (RMS maps of GPS PPP results show that stations with degraded performance are mainly distributed at high-latitude, and the degradation level generally depends on the storm intensity. The three-dimensional (3D RMS of GPS DF PPP for high-latitude during moderate, intense, and super storms are 0.393 m, 0.680 m and 1.051 m, respectively, with respect to only 0.163 m on quiet day. RMS errors of mid- and low-latitudes show less dependence on the storm intensities, with values less than 0.320 m, compared to 0.153 m on quiet day. Compared with DF PPP, the performance of GPS SF PPP is inferior regardless of quiet or disturbed conditions. The degraded performance of GPS positioning during geomagnetic storms is attributed to the increased ionospheric disturbances, which have been confirmed by our global rate of TEC index (ROTI maps. Ionospheric disturbances not only lead to the deteriorated ionospheric correction but also to the frequent cycle-slip occurrence. Statistical results show that, compared with that on quiet day, the increased cycle-slip occurrence are 13.04%, 56.52%, and 69.57% under moderate, intense, and super storms conditions, respectively.

Utilizing the Double-Precision Floating-Point Computing Power of GPUs for RSA Acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiankuo Dong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Asymmetric cryptographic algorithm (e.g., RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography implementations on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs have been researched for over a decade. The basic idea of most previous contributions is exploiting the highly parallel GPU architecture and porting the integer-based algorithms from general-purpose CPUs to GPUs, to offer high performance. However, the great potential cryptographic computing power of GPUs, especially by the more powerful floating-point instructions, has not been comprehensively investigated in fact. In this paper, we fully exploit the floating-point computing power of GPUs, by various designs, including the floating-point-based Montgomery multiplication/exponentiation algorithm and Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT implementation in GPU. And for practical usage of the proposed algorithm, a new method is performed to convert the input/output between octet strings and floating-point numbers, fully utilizing GPUs and further promoting the overall performance by about 5%. The performance of RSA-2048/3072/4096 decryption on NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN reaches 42,211/12,151/5,790 operations per second, respectively, which achieves 13 times the performance of the previous fastest floating-point-based implementation (published in Eurocrypt 2009. The RSA-4096 decryption precedes the existing fastest integer-based result by 23%.

On the performance of mixed RF/FSO variable gain dual-hop transmission systems with pointing errors

KAUST Repository

Ansari, Imran Shafique; Yilmaz, Ferkan; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2013-01-01

In this work, the performance analysis of a dualhop relay transmission system composed of asymmetric radiofrequency (RF) and unified free-space optical (FSO) links subject to pointing errors is presented. These unified FSO links account for both

Increasing radiographer productivity by an incentive point system.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, B; Chacko, P T

1983-01-01

Because of a very low technologist productivity in their Radiology Department, the authors describe a Productive Point System they developed and implemented to solve this personnel problem. After establishing the average time required to perform all exams, point credits (one point for every ten minutes utilized) were assigned to each exam performed, thereby determining an index of production. A Productive Index of 80% was considered realistic and was the equivalent of 192 points for a 40-hour work week. From 1975 to 1978 personal productivity increased from 79% to 113%. This resulted in an average yearly fiscal savings of over $20,000.00 for this three-year period. There was also a significant improvement in exam efficiency and quality, job attitude, personnel morale, and public relations. This program was highly successful because technologist acceptance and cooperation was complete, and this occurred mainly because the system supports the normal occupational goals and expectations of technologists.

High performance fuel technology development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koon, Yang Hyun; Kim, Keon Sik; Park, Jeong Yong; Yang, Yong Sik; In, Wang Kee; Kim, Hyung Kyu [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-01-15

{omicron} Development of High Plasticity and Annular Pellet - Development of strong candidates of ultra high burn-up fuel pellets for a PCI remedy - Development of fabrication technology of annular fuel pellet {omicron} Development of High Performance Cladding Materials - Irradiation test of HANA claddings in Halden research reactor and the evaluation of the in-pile performance - Development of the final candidates for the next generation cladding materials. - Development of the manufacturing technology for the dual-cooled fuel cladding tubes. {omicron} Irradiated Fuel Performance Evaluation Technology Development - Development of performance analysis code system for the dual-cooled fuel - Development of fuel performance-proving technology {omicron} Feasibility Studies on Dual-Cooled Annular Fuel Core - Analysis on the property of a reactor core with dual-cooled fuel - Feasibility evaluation on the dual-cooled fuel core {omicron} Development of Design Technology for Dual-Cooled Fuel Structure - Definition of technical issues and invention of concept for dual-cooled fuel structure - Basic design and development of main structure components for dual- cooled fuel - Basic design of a dual-cooled fuel rod.

The Effects of Specialization and Sex on Anterior Y-Balance Performance in High School Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Madeline M; Trapp, Jessica L; Post, Eric G; Trigsted, Stephanie M; McGuine, Timothy A; Brooks, M Alison; Bell, David R

Sport specialization and movement asymmetry have been separately discussed as potential risk factors for lower extremity injury. Early specialization may lead to the development of movement asymmetries that can predispose an athlete to injury, but this has not been thoroughly examined. Athletes rated as specialized would exhibit greater between-limb anterior reach asymmetry and decreased anterior reach distance on the Y-balance test (YBT) as compared with nonspecialized high school athletes, and these differences would not be dependent on sex. Cross-sectional study. Level 3. Two hundred ninety-five athletes (117 male, 178 female; mean age, 15.6 ± 1.2 years) from 2 local high schools participating in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis responded to a questionnaire regarding sport specialization status and performed trials of the YBT during preseason testing. Specialization was categorized according to 3 previously utilized specialization classification methods (single/multisport, 3-point scale, and 6-point scale), and interactions between specialization and sex with Y-balance performance were calculated using 2-way analyses of variance. Single-sport male athletes displayed greater anterior reach asymmetry than other interaction groups. A consistent main effect was observed for sex, with men displaying greater anterior asymmetry and decreased anterior reach distance than women. However, the interaction effects of specialization and sex on anterior Y-balance performance varied based on the classification method used. Single-sport male athletes displayed greater anterior reach asymmetry on the YBT than multisport and female athletes. Specialization classification method is important because the 6- and 3-point scales may not accurately identify balance abnormalities. Male athletes performed worse than female athletes on both of the Y-balance tasks. Clinicians should be aware that single-sport male athletes may display deficits in dynamic balance, potentially

Performance Analysis of Free-Space Optical Links Over Malaga (M) Turbulence Channels with Pointing Errors

KAUST Repository

Ansari, Imran Shafique

2015-08-12

In this work, we present a unified performance analysis of a free-space optical (FSO) link that accounts for pointing errors and both types of detection techniques (i.e. intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) as well as heterodyne detection). More specifically, we present unified exact closedform expressions for the cumulative distribution function, the probability density function, the moment generating function, and the moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a single link FSO transmission system, all in terms of the Meijer’s G function except for the moments that is in terms of simple elementary functions. We then capitalize on these unified results to offer unified exact closed-form expressions for various performance metrics of FSO link transmission systems, such as, the outage probability, the scintillation index (SI), the average error rate for binary and M-ary modulation schemes, and the ergodic capacity (except for IM/DD technique, where we present closed-form lower bound results), all in terms of Meijer’s G functions except for the SI that is in terms of simple elementary functions. Additionally, we derive the asymptotic results for all the expressions derived earlier in terms of Meijer’s G function in the high SNR regime in terms of simple elementary functions via an asymptotic expansion of the Meijer’s G function. We also derive new asymptotic expressions for the ergodic capacity in the low as well as high SNR regimes in terms of simple elementary functions via utilizing moments. All the presented results are verified via computer-based Monte-Carlo simulations.

Performance Analysis of Free-Space Optical Links Over Malaga (M) Turbulence Channels with Pointing Errors

KAUST Repository

Ansari, Imran Shafique; Yilmaz, Ferkan; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

In this work, we present a unified performance analysis of a free-space optical (FSO) link that accounts for pointing errors and both types of detection techniques (i.e. intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) as well as heterodyne detection). More specifically, we present unified exact closedform expressions for the cumulative distribution function, the probability density function, the moment generating function, and the moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a single link FSO transmission system, all in terms of the Meijer’s G function except for the moments that is in terms of simple elementary functions. We then capitalize on these unified results to offer unified exact closed-form expressions for various performance metrics of FSO link transmission systems, such as, the outage probability, the scintillation index (SI), the average error rate for binary and M-ary modulation schemes, and the ergodic capacity (except for IM/DD technique, where we present closed-form lower bound results), all in terms of Meijer’s G functions except for the SI that is in terms of simple elementary functions. Additionally, we derive the asymptotic results for all the expressions derived earlier in terms of Meijer’s G function in the high SNR regime in terms of simple elementary functions via an asymptotic expansion of the Meijer’s G function. We also derive new asymptotic expressions for the ergodic capacity in the low as well as high SNR regimes in terms of simple elementary functions via utilizing moments. All the presented results are verified via computer-based Monte-Carlo simulations.

High performance homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beim, Anne; Vibæk, Kasper Sánchez

2014-01-01

. Consideration of all these factors is a precondition for a truly integrated practice and as this chapter demonstrates, innovative project delivery methods founded on the manufacturing of prefabricated buildings contribute to the production of high performance homes that are cost effective to construct, energy...

Hardware-accelerated Point Generation and Rendering of Point-based Impostors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas

2005-01-01

This paper presents a novel scheme for generating points from triangle models. The method is fast and lends itself well to implementation using graphics hardware. The triangle to point conversion is done by rendering the models, and the rendering may be performed procedurally or by a black box API....... I describe the technique in detail and discuss how the generated point sets can easily be used as impostors for the original triangle models used to create the points. Since the points reside solely in GPU memory, these impostors are fairly efficient. Source code is available online....

Dynamic performance of maximum power point tracking circuits using sinusoidal extremum seeking control for photovoltaic generation

Science.gov (United States)

Leyva, R.; Artillan, P.; Cabal, C.; Estibals, B.; Alonso, C.

2011-04-01

The article studies the dynamic performance of a family of maximum power point tracking circuits used for photovoltaic generation. It revisits the sinusoidal extremum seeking control (ESC) technique which can be considered as a particular subgroup of the Perturb and Observe algorithms. The sinusoidal ESC technique consists of adding a small sinusoidal disturbance to the input and processing the perturbed output to drive the operating point at its maximum. The output processing involves a synchronous multiplication and a filtering stage. The filter instance determines the dynamic performance of the MPPT based on sinusoidal ESC principle. The approach uses the well-known root-locus method to give insight about damping degree and settlement time of maximum-seeking waveforms. This article shows the transient waveforms in three different filter instances to illustrate the approach. Finally, an experimental prototype corroborates the dynamic analysis.

Performance of supercritical Brayton cycle using CO2-based binary mixture at varying critical points for SFR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Woo Seok; Jeong, Yong Hoon

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Supercritical CO 2 -based gas mixture Brayton cycles were investigated for a SFR. • The critical point of CO 2 is the lowest cycle operating limit of the S-CO 2 cycles. • Mixing additives with CO 2 changes the CO 2 critical point. • CO 2 –Xe and CO 2 –Kr cycles achieve higher cycle efficiencies than the S-CO 2 cycles. • CO 2 –H 2 S and CO 2 –cyclohexane cycles perform better at higher heat sink temperatures. -- Abstract: The supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle (S-CO 2 cycle) has attracted much attention as an alternative to the Rankine cycle for sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). The higher cycle efficiency of the S-CO 2 cycle results from the considerably decreased compressor work because the compressor behaves as a pump in the proximity of the CO 2 vapor–liquid critical point. In order to fully utilize this feature, the main compressor inlet condition should be controlled to be close to the critical point of CO 2 . This indicates that the critical point of CO 2 is a constraint on the minimum cycle condition for S-CO 2 cycles. Modifying the CO 2 critical point by mixing additive gases could be considered as a method of enhancing the performance and broadening the applicability of the S-CO 2 cycle. Due to the drastic fluctuations of the thermo-physical properties of fluids near the critical point, an in-house cycle analysis code using the NIST REFPROP database was implemented. Several gases were selected as potential additives considering their thermal stability and chemical interaction with sodium in the temperature range of interest and the availability of the mixture property database: xenon, krypton, hydrogen sulfide, and cyclohexane. The performances of the optimized CO 2 -containing binary mixture cycles with simple recuperated and recompression layouts were compared with the reference S-CO 2 , CO 2 –Ar, CO 2 –N 2 , and CO 2 –O 2 cycles. For the decreased critical temperatures, the CO 2 –Xe and CO 2 �

Strategy Guideline: High Performance Residential Lighting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holton, J.

2012-02-01

The Strategy Guideline: High Performance Residential Lighting has been developed to provide a tool for the understanding and application of high performance lighting in the home. The high performance lighting strategies featured in this guide are drawn from recent advances in commercial lighting for application to typical spaces found in residential buildings. This guide offers strategies to greatly reduce lighting energy use through the application of high quality fluorescent and light emitting diode (LED) technologies. It is important to note that these strategies not only save energy in the home but also serve to satisfy the homeowner's expectations for high quality lighting.

A High Performance QDWH-SVD Solver using Hardware Accelerators

KAUST Repository

Sukkari, Dalal E.

2015-04-08

This paper describes a new high performance implementation of the QR-based Dynamically Weighted Halley Singular Value Decomposition (QDWH-SVD) solver on multicore architecture enhanced with multiple GPUs. The standard QDWH-SVD algorithm was introduced by Nakatsukasa and Higham (SIAM SISC, 2013) and combines three successive computational stages: (1) the polar decomposition calculation of the original matrix using the QDWH algorithm, (2) the symmetric eigendecomposition of the resulting polar factor to obtain the singular values and the right singular vectors and (3) the matrix-matrix multiplication to get the associated left singular vectors. A comprehensive test suite highlights the numerical robustness of the QDWH-SVD solver. Although it performs up to two times more flops when computing all singular vectors compared to the standard SVD solver algorithm, our new high performance implementation on single GPU results in up to 3.8x improvements for asymptotic matrix sizes, compared to the equivalent routines from existing state-of-the-art open-source and commercial libraries. However, when only singular values are needed, QDWH-SVD is penalized by performing up to 14 times more flops. The singular value only implementation of QDWH-SVD on single GPU can still run up to 18% faster than the best existing equivalent routines. Integrating mixed precision techniques in the solver can additionally provide up to 40% improvement at the price of losing few digits of accuracy, compared to the full double precision floating point arithmetic. We further leverage the single GPU QDWH-SVD implementation by introducing the first multi-GPU SVD solver to study the scalability of the QDWH-SVD framework.

Performance and cost benefits associated with nonimaging secondary concentrators used in point-focus dish solar thermal applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ogallagher, J.; Winston, R.

1987-09-01

Using nonimaging secondary concentrators in point-focus applications may permit the development of more cost-effective concentrator systems by either improving performance or reducing costs. Secondaries may also increase design flexibility. The major objective of this study was to develop as complete an understanding as possible of the quantitative performance and cost effects associated with deploying nonimaging secondary concentrators at the focal zone of point-focus solar thermal concentrators. A performance model was developed that uses a Monte Carlo ray-trace procedure to determine the focal plane distribution of a paraboloidal primary as a function of optical parameters. It then calculates the corresponding optimized concentration and thermal efficiency as a function of temperature with and without the secondary. To examine the potential cost benefits associated with secondaries, a preliminary model for the rational optimization of performance versus cost trade-offs was developed. This model suggests a possible 10 to 20 percent reduction in the cost of delivered energy when secondaries are used. This is a lower limit, and the benefits may even be greater if using a secondary permits the development of inexpensive primary technologies for which the performance would not otherwise be viable.

High performance conductometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, B.

2000-01-01

Inexpensive but high performance systems have emerged progressively for basic and applied measurements in physical and analytical chemistry on one hand, and for on-line monitoring and leak detection in plants and facilities on the other. Salient features of the developments will be presented with specific examples

Assessing the performance of aerial image point cloud and spectral metrics in predicting boreal forest canopy cover

Science.gov (United States)

Melin, M.; Korhonen, L.; Kukkonen, M.; Packalen, P.

2017-07-01

Canopy cover (CC) is a variable used to describe the status of forests and forested habitats, but also the variable used primarily to define what counts as a forest. The estimation of CC has relied heavily on remote sensing with past studies focusing on satellite imagery as well as Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) using light detection and ranging (lidar). Of these, ALS has been proven highly accurate, because the fraction of pulses penetrating the canopy represents a direct measurement of canopy gap percentage. However, the methods of photogrammetry can be applied to produce point clouds fairly similar to airborne lidar data from aerial images. Currently there is little information about how well such point clouds measure canopy density and gaps. The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of aerial image point clouds for CC estimation and compare the results with those obtained using spectral data from aerial images and Landsat 5. First, we modeled CC for n = 1149 lidar plots using field-measured CCs and lidar data. Next, this data was split into five subsets in north-south direction (y-coordinate). Finally, four CC models (AerialSpectral, AerialPointcloud, AerialCombi (spectral + pointcloud) and Landsat) were created and they were used to predict new CC values to the lidar plots, subset by subset, using five-fold cross validation. The Landsat and AerialSpectral models performed with RMSEs of 13.8% and 12.4%, respectively. AerialPointcloud model reached an RMSE of 10.3%, which was further improved by the inclusion of spectral data; RMSE of the AerialCombi model was 9.3%. We noticed that the aerial image point clouds managed to describe only the outermost layer of the canopy and missed the details in lower canopy, which was resulted in weak characterization of the total CC variation, especially in the tails of the data.

Unexpectedly high piezoelectricity of Sm-doped lead zirconate titanate in the Curie point region.

Science.gov (United States)

Seshadri, Shruti B; Nolan, Michelle M; Tutuncu, Goknur; Forrester, Jennifer S; Sapper, Eva; Esteves, Giovanni; Granzow, Torsten; Thomas, Pam A; Nino, Juan C; Rojac, Tadej; Jones, Jacob L

2018-03-07

Large piezoelectric coefficients in polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate (PZT) are traditionally achieved through compositional design using a combination of chemical substitution with a donor dopant and adjustment of the zirconium to titanium compositional ratio to meet the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). In this work, a different route to large piezoelectricity is demonstrated. Results reveal unexpectedly high piezoelectric coefficients at elevated temperatures and compositions far from the MPB. At temperatures near the Curie point, doping with 2 at% Sm results in exceptionally large piezoelectric coefficients of up to 915 pm/V. This value is approximately twice those of other donor dopants (e.g., 477 pm/V for Nb and 435 pm/V for La). Structural changes during the phase transitions of Sm-doped PZT show a pseudo-cubic phase forming ≈50 °C below the Curie temperature. Possible origins of these effects are discussed and the high piezoelectricity is posited to be due to extrinsic effects. The enhancement of the mechanism at elevated temperatures is attributed to the coexistence of tetragonal and pseudo-cubic phases, which enables strain accommodation during electromechanical deformation and interphase boundary motion. This work provides insight into possible routes for designing high performance piezoelectrics which are alternatives to traditional methods relying on MPB compositions.

Large-size high-performance transparent amorphous silicon sensors for laser beam position detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calderon, A. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Martinez-Rivero, C. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Matorras, F. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Rodrigo, T. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Sobron, M. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Vila, I. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Virto, A.L. [Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria. CSIC-University of Cantabria, Santander (Spain); Alberdi, J. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Arce, P. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Barcala, J.M. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Calvo, E. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Ferrando, A. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)]. E-mail: antonio.ferrando@ciemat.es; Josa, M.I. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Luque, J.M. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Molinero, A. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Navarrete, J. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Oller, J.C. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Yuste, C. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Koehler, C. [Steinbeis-Transferzentrum fuer Angewandte Photovoltaik und Duennschichttechnik, Stuttgart (Germany); Lutz, B. [Steinbeis-Transferzentrum fuer Angewandte Photovoltaik und Duennschichttechnik, Stuttgart (Germany); Schubert, M.B. [Steinbeis-Transferzentrum fuer Angewandte Photovoltaik und Duennschichttechnik, Stuttgart (Germany); Werner, J.H. [Steinbeis-Transferzentrum fuer Angewandte Photovoltaik und Duennschichttechnik, Stuttgart (Germany)

2006-09-15

We present the measured performance of a new generation of semitransparent amorphous silicon position detectors. They have a large sensitive area (30x30mm{sup 2}) and show good properties such as a high response (about 20mA/W), an intrinsic position resolution better than 3{mu}m, a spatial-point reconstruction precision better than 10{mu}m, deflection angles smaller than 10{mu}rad and a transmission power in the visible and NIR higher than 70%.

Large-size high-performance transparent amorphous silicon sensors for laser beam position detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calderon, A.; Martinez-Rivero, C.; Matorras, F.; Rodrigo, T.; Sobron, M.; Vila, I.; Virto, A.L.; Alberdi, J.; Arce, P.; Barcala, J.M.; Calvo, E.; Ferrando, A.; Josa, M.I.; Luque, J.M.; Molinero, A.; Navarrete, J.; Oller, J.C.; Yuste, C.; Koehler, C.; Lutz, B.; Schubert, M.B.; Werner, J.H.

2006-01-01

We present the measured performance of a new generation of semitransparent amorphous silicon position detectors. They have a large sensitive area (30x30mm 2 ) and show good properties such as a high response (about 20mA/W), an intrinsic position resolution better than 3μm, a spatial-point reconstruction precision better than 10μm, deflection angles smaller than 10μrad and a transmission power in the visible and NIR higher than 70%

INL High Performance Building Strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jennifer D. Morton

2010-02-01

High performance buildings, also known as sustainable buildings and green buildings, are resource efficient structures that minimize the impact on the environment by using less energy and water, reduce solid waste and pollutants, and limit the depletion of natural resources while also providing a thermally and visually comfortable working environment that increases productivity for building occupants. As Idaho National Laboratory (INL) becomes the nation’s premier nuclear energy research laboratory, the physical infrastructure will be established to help accomplish this mission. This infrastructure, particularly the buildings, should incorporate high performance sustainable design features in order to be environmentally responsible and reflect an image of progressiveness and innovation to the public and prospective employees. Additionally, INL is a large consumer of energy that contributes to both carbon emissions and resource inefficiency. In the current climate of rising energy prices and political pressure for carbon reduction, this guide will help new construction project teams to design facilities that are sustainable and reduce energy costs, thereby reducing carbon emissions. With these concerns in mind, the recommendations described in the INL High Performance Building Strategy (previously called the INL Green Building Strategy) are intended to form the INL foundation for high performance building standards. This revised strategy incorporates the latest federal and DOE orders (Executive Order [EO] 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance” [2009], EO 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management” [2007], and DOE Order 430.2B, “Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy, and Transportation Management” [2008]), the latest guidelines, trends, and observations in high performance building construction, and the latest changes to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

High Performance Networks for High Impact Science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, Mary A.; Bair, Raymond A.

2003-02-13

This workshop was the first major activity in developing a strategic plan for high-performance networking in the Office of Science. Held August 13 through 15, 2002, it brought together a selection of end users, especially representing the emerging, high-visibility initiatives, and network visionaries to identify opportunities and begin defining the path forward.

High performance fuel technology development : Development of high performance cladding materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jeongyong; Jeong, Y. H.; Park, S. Y.

2012-04-01

The superior in-pile performance of the HANA claddings have been verified by the successful irradiation test and in the Halden research reactor up to the high burn-up of 67GWD/MTU. The in-pile corrosion and creep resistances of HANA claddings were improved by 40% and 50%, respectively, over Zircaloy-4. HANA claddings have been also irradiated in the commercial reactor up to 2 reactor cycles, showing the corrosion resistance 40% better than that of ZIRLO in the same fuel assembly. Long-term out-of-pile performance tests for the candidates of the next generation cladding materials have produced the highly reliable test results. The final candidate alloys were selected and they showed the corrosion resistance 50% better than the foreign advanced claddings, which is beyond the original target. The LOCA-related properties were also improved by 20% over the foreign advanced claddings. In order to establish the optimal manufacturing process for the inner and outer claddings of the dual-cooled fuel, 18 different kinds of specimens were fabricated with various cold working and annealing conditions. Based on the performance tests and various out-of-pile test results obtained from the specimens, the optimal manufacturing process was established for the inner and outer cladding tubes of the dual-cooled fuel

Carbon nanomaterials for high-performance supercapacitors

OpenAIRE

Tao Chen; Liming Dai

2013-01-01

Owing to their high energy density and power density, supercapacitors exhibit great potential as high-performance energy sources for advanced technologies. Recently, carbon nanomaterials (especially, carbon nanotubes and graphene) have been widely investigated as effective electrodes in supercapacitors due to their high specific surface area, excellent electrical and mechanical properties. This article summarizes the recent progresses on the development of high-performance supercapacitors bas...

A novel conductive-polymer-based integration process for high-performance flip-chip packages

Science.gov (United States)

Lohokare, Saurabh

Conductive polymers have recently attracted considerable attention for low-temperature fabrication of lead-free, reworkable, and flexible flip-chip interconnects. Using these materials, I demonstrate in this thesis a process that enables low-cost and high-resolution flip-chip interconnects using conventional micro-fabrication techniques. This fabrication process offers improved performance as compared to conventional flip-chip techniques, such as screen-printing, and allows for definition of interconnects with excellent surface uniformity and control over the bump profile. In order to demonstrate the utility and wide applicability of this process, several test implementations that serve as case studies were investigated. Specifically, novel InGaAsSb avalanche photodiodes (APDs), operating around lambda = 2m and targeted for free-space communication and biomedical spectroscopy applications, were fabricated and flip-chip-integrated to test the static electrical characteristics of the polymer bumps. Additionally, the dynamic electrical performance characteristics of the polymer bumps were studied by using AlGaAsSb/AlGaSb p-i-n photodetectors as a case study. The fabrication of these photodetectors, operating around lambda = 1.55mum and targeted for optical communication applications, was accomplished using a customized inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch process that resulted in a low dark current and excellent speed (3dB bandwidth of 10GHz) and, responsivity (60% external quantum efficiency) characteristics. Furthermore, flip-chip integration was used to demonstrate a three-dimensional, point-to-point micro-optical interconnect, which was 2.33mm-long in a system 15.27mm3 in volume. Lastly, high-speed parallel optical interconnects were demonstrated using polymer-flip-chip-integrated 10GHz vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and DOEs. Such interconnects offer the ability to alleviate the communication bottleneck that is projected to occur in future, high-performance

Clojure high performance programming

CERN Document Server

Kumar, Shantanu

2013-01-01

This is a short, practical guide that will teach you everything you need to know to start writing high performance Clojure code.This book is ideal for intermediate Clojure developers who are looking to get a good grip on how to achieve optimum performance. You should already have some experience with Clojure and it would help if you already know a little bit of Java. Knowledge of performance analysis and engineering is not required. For hands-on practice, you should have access to Clojure REPL with Leiningen.

Design of an omnidirectional single-point photodetector for large-scale spatial coordinate measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Hongbo; Mao, Chensheng; Ren, Yongjie; Zhu, Jigui; Wang, Chao; Yang, Lei

2017-10-01

In high precision and large-scale coordinate measurement, one commonly used approach to determine the coordinate of a target point is utilizing the spatial trigonometric relationships between multiple laser transmitter stations and the target point. A light receiving device at the target point is the key element in large-scale coordinate measurement systems. To ensure high-resolution and highly sensitive spatial coordinate measurement, a high-performance and miniaturized omnidirectional single-point photodetector (OSPD) is greatly desired. We report one design of OSPD using an aspheric lens, which achieves an enhanced reception angle of -5 deg to 45 deg in vertical and 360 deg in horizontal. As the heart of our OSPD, the aspheric lens is designed in a geometric model and optimized by LightTools Software, which enables the reflection of a wide-angle incident light beam into the single-point photodiode. The performance of home-made OSPD is characterized with working distances from 1 to 13 m and further analyzed utilizing developed a geometric model. The experimental and analytic results verify that our device is highly suitable for large-scale coordinate metrology. The developed device also holds great potential in various applications such as omnidirectional vision sensor, indoor global positioning system, and optical wireless communication systems.

High-performance polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Heidecker, Matthew J.

resultant nanocomposites' mechanical properties on the preferential alignment of the montmorillonite nano-platelet was also evaluated. Highly aligned filler platelets did not result in an additional enhancement in mechanical properties. PC/PET blends and their respective PC/PET/montmorillonite nanocomposites were synthesized and compared. The dispersion of the organically modified nano-fillers in the PC/PET blends was controlled via thermodynamic considerations, realized through proper surfactant choice: Nanocomposites in which the layered silicate was preferentially sequestered in the PET phase were designed and synthesized. This preferential dispersion of the nano-filler in the PET phase of the PC/PET blend was insensitive to processing conditions, including approaches employing a master-batch (filler concentrate); regardless of the master-batch matrix, both PC and PET were employed, thermodynamics drove the layered silicate to preferentially migrate to the PET phase of the PC/PET blend. In a second approach, the development of a nanocomposite with controlled PC/PET compatibilization near the montmorillonite platelets, in absence of appreciable transesterification reactions, led to the formation of very high performance nanocomposites. These latter systems, point to an exciting new avenue of future considerations for nanocomposite blends with selective nano-filler dispersions, where performance can be tailored via the controlled preferential dispersion of nano-fillers in one phase, or by filler-induced polymer compatibilization.

Performance comparison of liquid metal and gas cooled ATW system point designs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, W.S.; Taiwo, T.A.; Hill, R.N.; Khalil, H.S.; Wade, D.C.

2001-01-01

As part of the Advanced Accelerator Application (AAA) program in the U.S., preliminary design studies have been performed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to define and compare candidate Accelerator Transmutation of Waste (ATW) systems. The studies at ANL have focused primarily on the transmutation blanket component of the overall system. Lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE), sodium, and gas cooled systems are among the blanket technology options currently under consideration. This paper summarizes the results from neutronics trade studies performed at ANL. Core designs have been developed for LBE and sodium cooled 840 MWt fast spectrum accelerator driven systems employing re-cycle. Additionally, neutronics analyses have been performed for a helium-cooled 600 MWt hybrid thermal and fast spectrum system proposed by General Atomics (GA), which is operated in the critical mode for three cycles and in a subcritical accelerator driven mode for a subsequent single cycle. For these three point designs, isotopic inventories, consumption rates, and annual burnup rates are compared. The mass flows and the ultimate loss of transuranic (TRU) isotopes to the waste stream per unit of heat generated during transmutation are also compared on a consistent basis. (author)

Performance of the PHIN High Charge Photo Injector

CERN Document Server

Petrarca, M; Doebert, S; Dabrowski, A; Divall, M; Fedoseev, V; Lebas, N; Lefevre, T; Losito, R; Egger, D; Mete, O

2010-01-01

The high charge PHIN photo injector is studied at CERN as an electron source for the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) drive beam as an alternative to the present thermionic gun. The objective of PHIN is to demonstrate the feasibility of a laser-based electron source for CLIC. The photo injector operates with a 2.5 cell, 3 GHz RF gun using a Cs2Te photocathode illuminated by UV laser pulses generated by amplifying and frequency quadrupling the signal from a Nd:YLF oscillator running at 1.5GHz. The challenge is to generate a beam structure of 1908 micro bunches with 2.33nC per micro bunch at 1.5GHz leading to a high integrated train charge of 4446nC and nominal beam energy of 5.5MeV with current stability below 1%. In this paper we report and discuss the time resolved transverse and longitudinal beam parameters measurements. The performance of the photo cathodes made at CERN with a peak quantum efficiency of 18 % is shown as well. Laser pointing and amplitude stability results are discussed taking into account correla...

Delivering high performance BWR fuel reliably

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schardt, J.F.

1998-01-01

Utilities are under intense pressure to reduce their production costs in order to compete in the increasingly deregulated marketplace. They need fuel, which can deliver high performance to meet demanding operating strategies. GE's latest BWR fuel design, GE14, provides that high performance capability. GE's product introduction process assures that this performance will be delivered reliably, with little risk to the utility. (author)

High performance bio-integrated devices

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dae-Hyeong; Lee, Jongha; Park, Minjoon

2014-06-01

In recent years, personalized electronics for medical applications, particularly, have attracted much attention with the rise of smartphones because the coupling of such devices and smartphones enables the continuous health-monitoring in patients' daily life. Especially, it is expected that the high performance biomedical electronics integrated with the human body can open new opportunities in the ubiquitous healthcare. However, the mechanical and geometrical constraints inherent in all standard forms of high performance rigid wafer-based electronics raise unique integration challenges with biotic entities. Here, we describe materials and design constructs for high performance skin-mountable bio-integrated electronic devices, which incorporate arrays of single crystalline inorganic nanomembranes. The resulting electronic devices include flexible and stretchable electrophysiology electrodes and sensors coupled with active electronic components. These advances in bio-integrated systems create new directions in the personalized health monitoring and/or human-machine interfaces.

Development of high performance lubricant through the compatibilization of polyalphaolefin, polyurea and irradiated polytetrafluoroethylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ratao, Natalia T.; Zen, Heloisa A.; Lugao, Ademar B.

2013-01-01

High performance lubricants are essential for shipping and oil exploration industries for working under severe conditions of temperature, pressure and contamination. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is widely used as a lubricating additive in greases for presenting the lowest known coefficient of friction, is commercially found irradiated in air, by this way can be grinded and oxygenated terminal groups can be formed. PTFE processed by ionizing radiation with 4μ average particle size was supplied by Uniflon and compared with the ultraviolet-irradiated PTFE with the same average particle size, from Dupont. The characterization of functional proprieties by drop point, oil separation and four ball test was conducted with a polyurea base grease additive with both types of PTFE. The chemical characterization was done with Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The drop point and oil separation tests showed that the Uniflon irradiated PTFE improved the thermal resistance and stability of polyurea grease due to the greater presence of the end groups increase the compatibility of the additive with the fluid. Four ball tests showed that the grease with Uniflon irradiated PTFE also has a better antiwear and extreme pressure performance because of the greater polarity of the molecules improving the dispersion and anchoring of the PTFE in metal surface voids, reducing wear. The PTFE processed by ionizing radiation showed greater compatibility with polyurea grease and polyalphaolefin fluid and the grease functional characteristics met the requirements for a high performance lubricant. (author)

NTM stabilization by alternating O-point EC current drive using a high-power diplexer

Science.gov (United States)

Kasparek, W.; Doelman, N.; Stober, J.; Maraschek, M.; Zohm, H.; Monaco, F.; Eixenberger, H.; Klop, W.; Wagner, D.; Schubert, M.; Schütz, H.; Grünwald, G.; Plaum, B.; Munk, R.; Schlüter, K. H.; ASDEX Upgrade Team

2016-12-01

At the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade, experiments to stabilize neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) by electron cyclotron (EC) heating and current drive in the O-points of the magnetic islands were performed. For the first time, injection into the O-points of the revolving islands was performed via a fast directional switch, which toggled the EC power between two launchers synchronously to the island rotation. The switching was performed by a resonant diplexer employing a sharp resonance in the transfer function, and a small frequency modulation of the feeding gyrotron around the slope of the resonance. Thus, toggling of the power between the two outputs of the diplexer connected to two articulating launchers was possible. Phasing and control of the modulation were performed via a set of Mirnov coils and appropriate signal processing. In the paper, technological issues, the design of the diplexer, the tracking of the diplexer resonance to the gyrotron frequency, the generation and processing of control signals for the gyrotron, and the typical performance concerning switching contrast and efficiency are discussed. The plasma scenario is described, and plasma experiments are presented, where the launchers scanned the region of the resonant surface continuously and also where the launchers were at a fixed position near to the q  =  1.5-surface. In the second case, complete stabilization of a 3/2 NTM could be reached. These experiments are also seen as a technical demonstration for the applicability of diplexers in large-scale ECRH systems.

Investigation on Minimum Film Boiling Point of Highly Heated Vertical Metal Rod in Aqueous Surfactant Solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Chi Young; Kim, Jae Han [Pukyong Nat’l Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2017-09-15

In this study, experiments were conducted on the MFB(minimum film boiling) point of highly heated vertical metal rod quenched in aqueous surfactant solution at various temperature conditions. The aqueous Triton X-100 solution(100 wppm) and pure water were used as the liquid pool. Their temperatures ranged from 77 °C to 100 °C. A stainless steel vertical rod of initial center temperature of 500 °C was used as a test specimen. In both liquid pools, as the liquid temperature decreased, the time to reach the MFB point decreased with a parallel increase in the temperature and heat flux of the MFB point. However, over the whole present temperature range, in the aqueous Triton X-100 solution, the time to reach the MFB point was longer, while the temperature and heat flux of the MFB point were reduced when compared with pure water. Based on the present experimental data, this study proposed the empirical correlations to predict the MFB temperature of a high temperature vertical metal rod in pure water and in aqueous Triton X-100 solution.

High Performance Macromolecular Material

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Forest, M

2002-01-01

.... In essence, most commercial high-performance polymers are processed through fiber spinning, following Nature and spider silk, which is still pound-for-pound the toughest liquid crystalline polymer...

Delivering high performance BWR fuel reliably

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schardt, J.F. [GE Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, NC (United States)

1998-07-01

Utilities are under intense pressure to reduce their production costs in order to compete in the increasingly deregulated marketplace. They need fuel, which can deliver high performance to meet demanding operating strategies. GE's latest BWR fuel design, GE14, provides that high performance capability. GE's product introduction process assures that this performance will be delivered reliably, with little risk to the utility. (author)

Carpet Aids Learning in High Performance Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hurd, Frank

2009-01-01

The Healthy and High Performance Schools Act of 2002 has set specific federal guidelines for school design, and developed a federal/state partnership program to assist local districts in their school planning. According to the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), high-performance schools are, among other things, healthy, comfortable,…

Dynamic nuclear polarization at high Landau levels in a quantum point contact

Science.gov (United States)

Fauzi, M. H.; Noorhidayati, A.; Sahdan, M. F.; Sato, K.; Nagase, K.; Hirayama, Y.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate a way to polarize and detect nuclear spin in a gate-defined quantum point contact operating at high Landau levels. Resistively detected nuclear magnetic resonance (RDNMR) can be achieved up to the fifth Landau level and at a magnetic field lower than 1 T. We are able to retain the RDNMR signals in a condition where the spin degeneracy of the first one-dimensional (1D) subband is still preserved. Furthermore, the effects of orbital motion on the first 1D subband can be made smaller than those due to electrostatic confinement. This developed RDNMR technique is a promising means to study electronic states in a quantum point contact near zero magnetic field.

Enhanced mobility of poly(3-hexylthiophene) transistors by spin-coating from high-boiling-point solvents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, J.F.; Sun, B.Q.; Breiby, Dag Werner

2004-01-01

chloroform are typically on the order of 0.01 cm(2)/(V s). Here we investigate a range of solvents with higher boiling points. We find that 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene with good solubility and a high boiling point significantly improves the field-effect mobilities up to 0.12 cm(2)/(V s) with on:off ratios of 10...

High-performance-vehicle technology. [fighter aircraft propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Povinelli, L. A.

1979-01-01

Propulsion needs of high performance military aircraft are discussed. Inlet performance, nozzle performance and cooling, and afterburner performance are covered. It is concluded that nonaxisymmetric nozzles provide cleaner external lines and enhanced maneuverability, but the internal flows are more complex. Swirl afterburners show promise for enhanced performance in the high altitude, low Mach number region.

Single-point reactive power control method on voltage rise mitigation in residential networks with high PV penetration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasheminamin, Maryam; Agelidis, Vassilios; Ahmadi, Abdollah

2018-01-01

Voltage rise (VR) due to reverse power flow is an important obstacle for high integration of Photovoltaic (PV) into residential networks. This paper introduces and elaborates a novel methodology of an index-based single-point-reactive power-control (SPRPC) methodology to mitigate voltage rise by ...... system with high r/x ratio. Efficacy, effectiveness and cost study of SPRPC is compared to droop control to evaluate its advantages.......Voltage rise (VR) due to reverse power flow is an important obstacle for high integration of Photovoltaic (PV) into residential networks. This paper introduces and elaborates a novel methodology of an index-based single-point-reactive power-control (SPRPC) methodology to mitigate voltage rise...... by absorbing adequate reactive power from one selected point. The proposed index utilizes short circuit analysis to select the best point to apply this Volt/Var control method. SPRPC is supported technically and financially by distribution network operator that makes it cost effective, simple and efficient...

Academic performance in high school as factor associated to academic performance in college

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mileidy Salcedo Barragán

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This study intends to find the relationship between academic performance in High School and College, focusing on Natural Sciences and Mathematics. It is a descriptive correlational study, and the variables were academic performance in High School, performance indicators and educational history. The correlations between variables were established with Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Results suggest that there is a positive relationship between academic performance in High School and Educational History, and a very weak relationship between performance in Science and Mathematics in High School and performance in College.

High Performance Grinding and Advanced Cutting Tools

CERN Document Server

Jackson, Mark J

2013-01-01

High Performance Grinding and Advanced Cutting Tools discusses the fundamentals and advances in high performance grinding processes, and provides a complete overview of newly-developing areas in the field. Topics covered are grinding tool formulation and structure, grinding wheel design and conditioning and applications using high performance grinding wheels. Also included are heat treatment strategies for grinding tools, using grinding tools for high speed applications, laser-based and diamond dressing techniques, high-efficiency deep grinding, VIPER grinding, and new grinding wheels.

Strategic options towards an affordable high-performance infrared camera

Science.gov (United States)

Oduor, Patrick; Mizuno, Genki; Dutta, Achyut K.; Lewis, Jay; Dhar, Nibir K.

2016-05-01

The promise of infrared (IR) imaging attaining low-cost akin to CMOS sensors success has been hampered by the inability to achieve cost advantages that are necessary for crossover from military and industrial applications into the consumer and mass-scale commercial realm despite well documented advantages. Banpil Photonics is developing affordable IR cameras by adopting new strategies to speed-up the decline of the IR camera cost curve. We present a new short-wave IR (SWIR) camera; 640x512 pixel InGaAs uncooled system that is high sensitivity low noise ( 500 frames per second (FPS)) at full resolution, and low power consumption (market adoption by not only demonstrating high-performance IR imaging capability value add demanded by military and industrial application, but also illuminates a path towards justifiable price points essential for consumer facing application industries such as automotive, medical, and security imaging adoption. Among the strategic options presented include new sensor manufacturing technologies that scale favorably towards automation, multi-focal plane array compatible readout electronics, and dense or ultra-small pixel pitch devices.

High performance monolithic power management system with dynamic maximum power point tracking for microbial fuel cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Erbay, Celal; Carreon-Bautista, Salvador; Sanchez-Sinencio, Edgar; Han, Arum

2014-12-02

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) that can directly generate electricity from organic waste or biomass is a promising renewable and clean technology. However, low power and low voltage output of MFCs typically do not allow directly operating most electrical applications, whether it is supplementing electricity to wastewater treatment plants or for powering autonomous wireless sensor networks. Power management systems (PMSs) can overcome this limitation by boosting the MFC output voltage and managing the power for maximum efficiency. We present a monolithic low-power-consuming PMS integrated circuit (IC) chip capable of dynamic maximum power point tracking (MPPT) to maximize the extracted power from MFCs, regardless of the power and voltage fluctuations from MFCs over time. The proposed PMS continuously detects the maximum power point (MPP) of the MFC and matches the load impedance of the PMS for maximum efficiency. The system also operates autonomously by directly drawing power from the MFC itself without any external power. The overall system efficiency, defined as the ratio between input energy from the MFC and output energy stored into the supercapacitor of the PMS, was 30%. As a demonstration, the PMS connected to a 240 mL two-chamber MFC (generating 0.4 V and 512 μW at MPP) successfully powered a wireless temperature sensor that requires a voltage of 2.5 V and consumes power of 85 mW each time it transmit the sensor data, and successfully transmitted a sensor reading every 7.5 min. The PMS also efficiently managed the power output of a lower-power producing MFC, demonstrating that the PMS works efficiently at various MFC power output level.

Fracture modelling of a high performance armour steel

Science.gov (United States)

Skoglund, P.; Nilsson, M.; Tjernberg, A.

2006-08-01

The fracture characteristics of the high performance armour steel Armox 500T is investigated. Tensile mechanical experiments using samples with different notch geometries are used to investigate the effect of multi-axial stress states on the strain to fracture. The experiments are numerically simulated and from the simulation the stress at the point of fracture initiation is determined as a function of strain and these data are then used to extract parameters for fracture models. A fracture model based on quasi-static experiments is suggested and the model is tested against independent experiments done at both static and dynamic loading. The result show that the fracture model give reasonable good agreement between simulations and experiments at both static and dynamic loading condition. This indicates that multi-axial loading is more important to the strain to fracture than the deformation rate in the investigated loading range. However on-going work will further characterise the fracture behaviour of Armox 500T.

Highlighting High Performance: Whitman Hanson Regional High School; Whitman, Massachusetts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2006-06-01

This brochure describes the key high-performance building features of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. The brochure was paid for by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative as part of their Green Schools Initiative. High-performance features described are daylighting and energy-efficient lighting, indoor air quality, solar and wind energy, building envelope, heating and cooling systems, water conservation, and acoustics. Energy cost savings are also discussed.

Recording Approach of Heritage Sites Based on Merging Point Clouds from High Resolution Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Science.gov (United States)

Grussenmeyer, P.; Alby, E.; Landes, T.; Koehl, M.; Guillemin, S.; Hullo, J. F.; Assali, P.; Smigiel, E.

2012-07-01

Different approaches and tools are required in Cultural Heritage Documentation to deal with the complexity of monuments and sites. The documentation process has strongly changed in the last few years, always driven by technology. Accurate documentation is closely relied to advances of technology (imaging sensors, high speed scanning, automation in recording and processing data) for the purposes of conservation works, management, appraisal, assessment of the structural condition, archiving, publication and research (Patias et al., 2008). We want to focus in this paper on the recording aspects of cultural heritage documentation, especially the generation of geometric and photorealistic 3D models for accurate reconstruction and visualization purposes. The selected approaches are based on the combination of photogrammetric dense matching and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) techniques. Both techniques have pros and cons and recent advances have changed the way of the recording approach. The choice of the best workflow relies on the site configuration, the performances of the sensors, and criteria as geometry, accuracy, resolution, georeferencing, texture, and of course processing time. TLS techniques (time of flight or phase shift systems) are widely used for recording large and complex objects and sites. Point cloud generation from images by dense stereo or multi-view matching can be used as an alternative or as a complementary method to TLS. Compared to TLS, the photogrammetric solution is a low cost one, as the acquisition system is limited to a high-performance digital camera and a few accessories only. Indeed, the stereo or multi-view matching process offers a cheap, flexible and accurate solution to get 3D point clouds. Moreover, the captured images might also be used for models texturing. Several software packages are available, whether web-based, open source or commercial. The main advantage of this photogrammetric or computer vision based technology is to get

Nutrition Information at the Point of Selection in High Schools Does Not Affect Purchases

Science.gov (United States)

Rainville, Alice Jo; Choi, Kyunghee; Ragg, Mark; King, Amber; Carr, Deborah H.

2010-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: Nutrition information can be an important component of local wellness policies. There are very few studies regarding nutrition information at the point of selection (POS) in high schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of posting entree nutrition information at the POS in high schools nationwide.…

High performance polymeric foams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gargiulo, M.; Sorrentino, L.; Iannace, S.

2008-01-01

The aim of this work was to investigate the foamability of high-performance polymers (polyethersulfone, polyphenylsulfone, polyetherimide and polyethylenenaphtalate). Two different methods have been used to prepare the foam samples: high temperature expansion and two-stage batch process. The effects of processing parameters (saturation time and pressure, foaming temperature) on the densities and microcellular structures of these foams were analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy

Responsive design high performance

CERN Document Server

Els, Dewald

2015-01-01

This book is ideal for developers who have experience in developing websites or possess minor knowledge of how responsive websites work. No experience of high-level website development or performance tweaking is required.

Pressure-Drop Considerations in the Characterization of Dew-Point Transfer Standards at High Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Mitter, H.; Böse, N.; Benyon, R.; Vicente, T.

2012-09-01

During calibration of precision optical dew-point hygrometers (DPHs), it is usually necessary to take into account the pressure drop induced by the gas flow between the "point of reference" and the "point of use" (mirror or measuring head of the DPH) either as a correction of the reference dew-point temperature or as part of the uncertainty estimation. At dew-point temperatures in the range of ambient temperature and below, it is sufficient to determine the pressure drop for the required gas flow, and to keep the volumetric flow constant during the measurements. In this case, it is feasible to keep the dry-gas flow into the dew-point generator constant or to measure the flow downstream the DPH at ambient temperature. In normal operation, at least one DPH in addition to the monitoring DPH are used, and this operation has to be applied to each instrument. The situation is different at high dew-point temperatures up to 95 °C, the currently achievable upper limit reported in this paper. With increasing dew-point temperatures, the reference gas contains increasing amounts of water vapour and a constant dry-gas flow will lead to a significant enhanced volume flow at the conditions at the point of use, and therefore, to a significantly varying pressure drop depending on the applied dew-point temperature. At dew-point temperatures above ambient temperature, it is also necessary to heat the reference gas and the mirror head of the DPH sufficiently to avoid condensation which will additionally increase the volume flow and the pressure drop. In this paper, a method is provided to calculate the dry-gas flow rate needed to maintain a known wet-gas flow rate through a chilled mirror for a range of temperature and pressures.

Striving for Excellence Sometimes Hinders High Achievers: Performance-Approach Goals Deplete Arithmetical Performance in Students with High Working Memory Capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Crouzevialle, Marie; Smeding, Annique; Butera, Fabrizio

2015-01-01

We tested whether the goal to attain normative superiority over other students, referred to as performance-approach goals, is particularly distractive for high-Working Memory Capacity (WMC) students—that is, those who are used to being high achievers. Indeed, WMC is positively related to high-order cognitive performance and academic success, a record of success that confers benefits on high-WMC as compared to low-WMC students. We tested whether such benefits may turn out to be a burden under performance-approach goal pursuit. Indeed, for high achievers, aiming to rise above others may represent an opportunity to reaffirm their positive status—a stake susceptible to trigger disruptive outcome concerns that interfere with task processing. Results revealed that with performance-approach goals—as compared to goals with no emphasis on social comparison—the higher the students’ WMC, the lower their performance at a complex arithmetic task (Experiment 1). Crucially, this pattern appeared to be driven by uncertainty regarding the chances to outclass others (Experiment 2). Moreover, an accessibility measure suggested the mediational role played by status-related concerns in the observed disruption of performance. We discuss why high-stake situations can paradoxically lead high-achievers to sub-optimally perform when high-order cognitive performance is at play. PMID:26407097

High-performance ceramics. Fabrication, structure, properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petzow, G.; Tobolski, J.; Telle, R.

1996-01-01

The program ''Ceramic High-performance Materials'' pursued the objective to understand the chaining of cause and effect in the development of high-performance ceramics. This chain of problems begins with the chemical reactions for the production of powders, comprises the characterization, processing, shaping and compacting of powders, structural optimization, heat treatment, production and finishing, and leads to issues of materials testing and of a design appropriate to the material. The program ''Ceramic High-performance Materials'' has resulted in contributions to the understanding of fundamental interrelationships in terms of materials science, which are summarized in the present volume - broken down into eight special aspects. (orig./RHM)

Asymptotic Performance Analysis of Two-Way Relaying FSO Networks with Nonzero Boresight Pointing Errors Over Double-Generalized Gamma Fading Channels

KAUST Repository

Yang, Liang; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ansari, Imran Shafique

2018-01-01

In this correspondence, an asymptotic performance analysis for two-way relaying free-space optical (FSO) communication systems with nonzero boresight pointing errors over double-generalized gamma fading channels is presented. Assuming amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying, two nodes having the FSO ability can communicate with each other through the optical links. With this setup, an approximate cumulative distribution function (CDF) expression for the overall signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is presented. With this statistic distribution, we derive the asymptotic analytical results for the outage probability and average bit error rate. Furthermore, we provide the asymptotic average capacity analysis for high SNR by using the momentsbased method.

Asymptotic Performance Analysis of Two-Way Relaying FSO Networks with Nonzero Boresight Pointing Errors Over Double-Generalized Gamma Fading Channels

KAUST Repository

Yang, Liang

2018-05-07

In this correspondence, an asymptotic performance analysis for two-way relaying free-space optical (FSO) communication systems with nonzero boresight pointing errors over double-generalized gamma fading channels is presented. Assuming amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying, two nodes having the FSO ability can communicate with each other through the optical links. With this setup, an approximate cumulative distribution function (CDF) expression for the overall signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is presented. With this statistic distribution, we derive the asymptotic analytical results for the outage probability and average bit error rate. Furthermore, we provide the asymptotic average capacity analysis for high SNR by using the momentsbased method.

Impact of Steel Fiber Size and Shape on the Mechanical Properties of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-01

characteristics of steel fiber reinforcement to the mechanical properties of high-strength concretes , this study investigated four commercially available...Standard test method for flexural performance of fiber - reinforced concrete (using beam with third-point loading). Designation: C1609/1609M. West...STEEL FIBERS are low-carbon, drawn w ire for reinforced concrete . NYCON-SF fibers distribute stresses within the concrete and provide improvement

Performance of High Temperature Filter System for Radioactive Waste Vitrification Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Seung Chul; Hwang, Tae Won; Shin, Sang Won; Ha, Jong Hyun; Kim, Hey Suk; Park, So Jin

2004-01-01

Important operation parameters and performance of a high temperature ceramic candle filter system were evaluated through a series of demonstration tests at a pilot-scale vitrification plant. At the initial period of each test, due to the growth of dust cake on the surface of ceramic candles, the pressure drop across the filter media increased sharply. After that it became stable to a certain range and varied continuously proportion to the face velocity of off-gas. On the contrary, at the initial period of each test, the permeability of filter element decreased rapidly and then it became stable. Back flushing of the filter system was effective under the back flushing air pressure range of 3∼5 bar. Based on the dust concentrations measured by iso-kinetic dust sampling at the inlet and outlet point of HTF, the dust collection efficiency of HTF evaluated. The result met the designed performance value of 99.9%. During the demonstration tests including a hundred hour long test, no specific failure or problem affecting the performance of HTF system were observed.

Preparation of very small point sources for high resolution radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Case, F.N.

1976-01-01

The need for very small point sources of high specific activity 192 Ir, 169 Yb, 170 Tm, and 60 Co in non-destructive testing has motivated the development of techniques for the fabrication of these sources. To prepare 192 Ir point sources for use in examination of tube sheet welds in LMFBR heat exchangers, 191 Ir enriched to greater than 90 percent was melted in a helium blanketed arc to form spheres as small as 0.38 mm in diameter. Methods were developed to form the roughly spherical shaped arc product into nearly symmetrical spheres that could be used for high resolution radiography. Similar methods were used for spherical shaped sources of 169 Yb and 170 Tm. The oxides were arc melted to form rough spheres followed by grinding to precise dimensions, neutron irradiation of the spheres at a flux of 2 to 3 x 10 15 nv, and use of enriched 168 Yb to provide the maximum specific activity. Cobalt-60 with a specific activity of greater than 1100 Ci/g was prepared by processing 59 Co that had been neutron irradiated to nearly complete burnup of the 59 Co target to produce 60 Co, 61 Ni, and 62 Ni. Ion exchange methods were used to separate the cobalt from the nickel. The cobalt was reduced to metal by plating either onto aluminum foil which was dissolved away from the cobalt plate, or by plating onto mercury to prepare amalgam that could be easily formed into a pellet of cobalt with exclusion of the mercury. Both methods are discussed

High performance data transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Cottrell, R.; Fang, C.; Hanushevsky, A.; Kreuger, W.; Yang, W.

2017-10-01

The exponentially increasing need for high speed data transfer is driven by big data, and cloud computing together with the needs of data intensive science, High Performance Computing (HPC), defense, the oil and gas industry etc. We report on the Zettar ZX software. This has been developed since 2013 to meet these growing needs by providing high performance data transfer and encryption in a scalable, balanced, easy to deploy and use way while minimizing power and space utilization. In collaboration with several commercial vendors, Proofs of Concept (PoC) consisting of clusters have been put together using off-the- shelf components to test the ZX scalability and ability to balance services using multiple cores, and links. The PoCs are based on SSD flash storage that is managed by a parallel file system. Each cluster occupies 4 rack units. Using the PoCs, between clusters we have achieved almost 200Gbps memory to memory over two 100Gbps links, and 70Gbps parallel file to parallel file with encryption over a 5000 mile 100Gbps link.

Geisinger high-risk osteoporosis clinic (HiROC): 2013-2015 FLS performance analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, P; Webb, D; Olenginski, T P

2018-02-01

Geisinger Health System (GHS) high-risk osteoporosis clinic (HiROC), which treats patients with low-trauma, fragility fractures, reports their 2013-2015 performance measures in secondary fracture prevention. This fracture liaison service (FLS) pathway treats 75% of high-risk, drug eligible patients, compared to 13.8% in GHS primary care. This performance points to the need for more FLS programs throughout the world. The purpose of this study is to analyze and report ongoing performance measures in outpatient and inpatient high-risk osteoporosis clinic (HiROC) program designed for patients with low-trauma, fragility fractures. Retrospective chart review of outpatient HiROC (511 patients) and inpatient HiROC (1279 patients) performance from 2013 to 2015 is reported within Geisinger Health System (GHS). Similar to a prior report, we document that Geisinger's branded outpatient and inpatient HiROC pathways continue to function as an all-fracture FLS. Importantly, this analysis emphasizes the importance of FLS care that HiROC's treatment rate of 75% was markedly superior to GHS-PCP care of 13.8%. However, a large percentage of patients (37.8%) were lost to follow-up care. This led to the identification of multiple care gaps/barriers to ideal best practice. FLS programs use case finding strategies and address secondary fracture prevention. GHS HiROC's performance and initiation of drug therapy in this fracture patient population contrasts with GHS-PCP care's much lower rate of treatment, documenting the need for ongoing FLS care. Importantly, the results of this analysis have prompted the beginnings of GHS programmatic changes, designed to narrow the reported care gaps in this mature FLS.

High performance parallel I/O

CERN Document Server

Prabhat

2014-01-01

Gain Critical Insight into the Parallel I/O EcosystemParallel I/O is an integral component of modern high performance computing (HPC), especially in storing and processing very large datasets to facilitate scientific discovery. Revealing the state of the art in this field, High Performance Parallel I/O draws on insights from leading practitioners, researchers, software architects, developers, and scientists who shed light on the parallel I/O ecosystem.The first part of the book explains how large-scale HPC facilities scope, configure, and operate systems, with an emphasis on choices of I/O har

Making Sense of Boiling Points and Melting Points

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

GENERAL | ARTICLE. The boiling and melting points of a pure substance are char- ... bonds, which involves high energy and hence high temperatures. Among the .... with zero intermolecular force at all temperatures and pressures, which ...

ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLID WALL BLANKET CONCEPTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

WONG, CPC; MALANG, S; NISHIO, S; RAFFRAY, R; SAGARA, S

2002-01-01

OAK A271 ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLID WALL BLANKET CONCEPTS. First wall and blanket (FW/blanket) design is a crucial element in the performance and acceptance of a fusion power plant. High temperature structural and breeding materials are needed for high thermal performance. A suitable combination of structural design with the selected materials is necessary for D-T fuel sufficiency. Whenever possible, low afterheat, low chemical reactivity and low activation materials are desired to achieve passive safety and minimize the amount of high-level waste. Of course the selected fusion FW/blanket design will have to match the operational scenarios of high performance plasma. The key characteristics of eight advanced high performance FW/blanket concepts are presented in this paper. Design configurations, performance characteristics, unique advantages and issues are summarized. All reviewed designs can satisfy most of the necessary design goals. For further development, in concert with the advancement in plasma control and scrape off layer physics, additional emphasis will be needed in the areas of first wall coating material selection, design of plasma stabilization coils, consideration of reactor startup and transient events. To validate the projected performance of the advanced FW/blanket concepts the critical element is the need for 14 MeV neutron irradiation facilities for the generation of necessary engineering design data and the prediction of FW/blanket components lifetime and availability

DOE research in utilization of high-performance computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buzbee, B.L.; Worlton, W.J.; Michael, G.; Rodrigue, G.

1980-12-01

Department of Energy (DOE) and other Government research laboratories depend on high-performance computer systems to accomplish their programatic goals. As the most powerful computer systems become available, they are acquired by these laboratories so that advances can be made in their disciplines. These advances are often the result of added sophistication to numerical models whose execution is made possible by high-performance computer systems. However, high-performance computer systems have become increasingly complex; consequently, it has become increasingly difficult to realize their potential performance. The result is a need for research on issues related to the utilization of these systems. This report gives a brief description of high-performance computers, and then addresses the use of and future needs for high-performance computers within DOE, the growing complexity of applications within DOE, and areas of high-performance computer systems warranting research. 1 figure

On impurity handling in high performance stellarator/heliotron plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burhenn, R.; Feng, Y.; Ida, K.

2008-10-01

The Large Helical Device (LHD) and Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X, under construction) are experiments specially designed to demonstrate long pulse (quasi steady-state) operation, which is an intrinsic property of Stellarators and Heliotrons. Significant progress was made in establishment of high performance plasmas. A crucial point is the increasing impurity confinement towards high density as observed at several machines (TJ-II, W7-AS, LHD) which can lead to impurity accumulation and early pulse termination by radiation collapse at high density. In addition, theoretical predictions for non-axisymmetric configurations prognosticate the absence of impurity screening by ion temperature gradients in standard ion root plasmas. Nevertheless, scenarios were found where impurity accumulation was successfully avoided in LHD and/or W7-AS by the onset of drag forces in the high density and low temperature scrape-off-layer, the generation of magnetic islands at the plasma boundary and to a certain degree also by ELMs, flushing out impurities and reducing the net-impurity influx into the core. Additionally, a reduction of impurity core confinement was observed in the W7-AS High Density H-mode (HDH) regime and by application of sufficient ECRH heating power. The exploration of such purification mechanisms is a demanding task for successful steady-state operation. The impurity transport at the plasma edge/SOL was identified to play a major role for the global impurity behaviour in addition to the core confinement. (author)

A high-performance stand-alone solar PV power system for LED lighting

KAUST Repository

Huang, B. J.

2010-06-01

The present study developed a high-performance solar PV power technology for the LED lighting of a solar home system. The nMPPO (near-Maximum-Power- Point- Operation) design is employed in system design to eliminate MPPT. A feedback control system using pulse width modulation (PWM) technique was developed for battery charging control which can increase the charging capacity by 78%. For high-efficiency lighting, the LED is directly driven by battery using a PWM discharge control to eliminate a DC/DC converter. Two solar-powered LED lighting systems (50W and 100W LED) were built. The long-term outdoor tests have shown that the loss of load probability for full-night lighting requirement is zero for 50W LED and 3.6% for 100W LED. © 2010 IEEE.

Flexural toughness of steel fiber reinforced high performance concrete containing nano-SiO2 and fly ash.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Peng; Zhao, Ya-Nan; Li, Qing-Fu; Wang, Peng; Zhang, Tian-Hang

2014-01-01

This paper aims to clarify the effect of steel fiber on the flexural toughness of the high performance concrete containing fly ash and nano-SiO2. The flexural toughness was evaluated by two methods, which are based on ASTM C1018 and DBV-1998, respectively. By means of three-point bending method, the flexural toughness indices, variation coefficients of bearing capacity, deformation energy, and equivalent flexural strength of the specimen were measured, respectively, and the relational curves between the vertical load and the midspan deflection (P(V)-δ) were obtained. The results indicate that steel fiber has great effect on the flexural toughness parameters and relational curves (P(V)-δ) of the three-point bending beam specimen. When the content of steel fiber increases from 0.5% to 2%, the flexural toughness parameters increase gradually and the curves are becoming plumper and plumper with the increase of steel fiber content, respectively. However these flexural toughness parameters begin to decrease and the curves become thinner and thinner after the steel fiber content exceeds 2%. It seems that the contribution of steel fiber to the improvement of flexural toughness of the high performance concrete containing fly ash and nano-SiO2 is well performed only when the steel fiber content is less than 2%.

Quantum critical point in high-temperature superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaginyan, V.R. [Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, RAS, Gatchina 188300 (Russian Federation); Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel)], E-mail: vrshag@thd.pnpi.spb.ru; Amusia, M.Ya. [Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel); Popov, K.G. [Komi Science Center, Ural Division, RAS, Syktyvkar 167982 (Russian Federation); Stephanovich, V.A. [Opole University, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Opole 45-052 (Poland)], E-mail: stef@math.uni.opole.pl

2009-02-02

Recently, in high-T{sub c} superconductors (HTSC), exciting measurements have been performed revealing their physics in superconducting and pseudogap states and in normal one induced by the application of magnetic field, when the transition from non-Fermi liquid to Landau-Fermi liquid behavior occurs. We employ a theory, based on fermion condensation quantum phase transition which is able to explain facts obtained in the measurements. We also show, that in spite of very different microscopic nature of HTSC, heavy-fermion metals and 2D {sup 3}He, the physical properties of these three classes of substances are similar to each other.

Test sensitivity is important for detecting variability in pointing comprehension in canines.

Science.gov (United States)

Pongrácz, Péter; Gácsi, Márta; Hegedüs, Dorottya; Péter, András; Miklósi, Adám

2013-09-01

Several articles have been recently published on dogs' (Canis familiaris) performance in two-way object choice experiments in which subjects had to find hidden food by utilizing human pointing. The interpretation of results has led to a vivid theoretical debate about the cognitive background of human gestural signal understanding in dogs, despite the fact that many important details of the testing method have not yet been standardized. We report three experiments that aim to reveal how some procedural differences influence adult companion dogs' performance in these tests. Utilizing a large sample in Experiment 1, we provide evidence that neither the keeping conditions (garden/house) nor the location of the testing (outdoor/indoor) affect a dogs' performance. In Experiment 2, we compare dogs' performance using three different types of pointing gestures. Dogs' performance varied between momentary distal and momentary cross-pointing but "low" and "high" performer dogs chose uniformly better than chance level if they responded to sustained pointing gestures with reinforcement (food reward and a clicking sound; "clicker pointing"). In Experiment 3, we show that single features of the aforementioned "clicker pointing" method can slightly improve dogs' success rate if they were added one by one to the momentary distal pointing method. These results provide evidence that although companion dogs show a robust performance at different testing locations regardless of their keeping conditions, the exact execution of the human gesture and additional reinforcement techniques have substantial effect on the outcomes. Consequently, researchers should standardize their methodology before engaging in debates on the comparative aspects of socio-cognitive skills because the procedures they utilize may differ in sensitivity for detecting differences.

High angle grain boundaries as sources or sinks for point defects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balluffi, R.W.

1979-09-01

A secondary grain boundary dislocation climb model for high angle grain boundaries as sources/sinks for point defects is described in the light of recent advances in our knowledge of grain boundary structure. Experimental results are reviewed and are then compared with the expected behavior of the proposed model. Reasonably good consistency is found at the level of our present understanding of the subject. However, several gaps in our present knowledge still exist, and these are identified and discussed briefly.

Preparation and characterization of high performance Schiff-base liquid crystal diepoxide polymer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Huan; Fu Zien; Xu Kai; Cai Hualun; Liu Xin; Chen Mingcai

2012-01-01

Graphical abstract: The specific effects of highly conjugated Schiff-base moiety on thermal properties of the Schiff-base epoxy polymer were proposed first by us. From the point of view of structure-properties relationship, it can be considered that owing to the presence of the Schiff-base group, the high performance liquid crystal diepoxide polymer displayed improved thermal stability. Highlights: ► In this work, we first proposed that specific effects of highly conjugated Schiff-base moiety on thermal properties of the Schiff-base epoxy polymer. ► As one aim of this study, the thermal and thermal-oxidative stabilities of the thermosets were studied by TGA under nitrogen and under air. ► The second aim of this study was to further understand the thermal degradation mechanism. ► For thermal degradation mechanism of this polymer under nitrogen, TG-IR was used to investigate volatile components, and SEM/EDS was used to explore morphologies and chemical components of the residual char. ► From the point of view of structure-properties relationship, it can be considered that owing to the presence of the Schiff-base group, the high performance liquid crystal diepoxide polymer displayed the improved thermal stability. - Abstract: A novel Schiff-base liquid crystal diepoxide polymer was prepared via a thermal copolymerization of a Schiff-base epoxy monomer (PBMBA) with a diamine co-monomer (MDA). We first proposed that specific effects of highly conjugated Schiff-base moiety on thermal properties of the Schiff-base epoxy polymer (PBMBA/MDA). Thermal degradation behavior of the polymer was characterized using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under nitrogen and under air, respectively. Thermogravimetric data obtained from TGA under nitrogen and under air reveal that PBMBA/MDA exhibits higher thermal stability compared with bisphenol-A type epoxy polymer (DGEBA/MDA) and other mesogene-containing epoxy polymer. It is worth pointing out that the outstanding residual

Optimal Power Flow by Interior Point and Non Interior Point Modern Optimization Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin Połomski

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The idea of optimal power flow (OPF is to determine the optimal settings for control variables while respecting various constraints, and in general it is related to power system operational and planning optimization problems. A vast number of optimization methods have been applied to solve the OPF problem, but their performance is highly dependent on the size of a power system being optimized. The development of the OPF recently has tracked significant progress both in numerical optimization techniques and computer techniques application. In recent years, application of interior point methods to solve OPF problem has been paid great attention. This is due to the fact that IP methods are among the fastest algorithms, well suited to solve large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. This paper presents the primal-dual interior point method based optimal power flow algorithm and new variant of the non interior point method algorithm with application to optimal power flow problem. Described algorithms were implemented in custom software. The experiments show the usefulness of computational software and implemented algorithms for solving the optimal power flow problem, including the system model sizes comparable to the size of the National Power System.

Effect of Pointing Error on the BER Performance of an Optical CDMA FSO Link with SIK Receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Nazrul Islam, A. K. M.; Majumder, S. P.

2017-12-01

An analytical approach is presented for an optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) system over free space optical (FSO) channel considering the effect of pointing error between the transmitter and the receiver. Analysis is carried out with an optical sequence inverse keying (SIK) correlator receiver with intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) to find the bit error rate (BER) with pointing error. The results are evaluated numerically in terms of signal-to-noise plus multi-access interference (MAI) ratio, BER and power penalty due to pointing error. It is noticed that the OCDMA FSO system is highly affected by pointing error with significant power penalty at a BER of 10-6 and 10-9. For example, penalty at BER 10-9 is found to be 9 dB corresponding to normalized pointing error of 1.4 for 16 users with processing gain of 256 and is reduced to 6.9 dB when the processing gain is increased to 1,024.

High-performance mass storage system for workstations

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, T.; Tang, Y.; Gupta, L.; Cooperman, S.

1993-01-01

Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) workstations and Personnel Computers (PC) are very popular tools for office automation, command and control, scientific analysis, database management, and many other applications. However, when using Input/Output (I/O) intensive applications, the RISC workstations and PC's are often overburdened with the tasks of collecting, staging, storing, and distributing data. Also, by using standard high-performance peripherals and storage devices, the I/O function can still be a common bottleneck process. Therefore, the high-performance mass storage system, developed by Loral AeroSys' Independent Research and Development (IR&D) engineers, can offload a RISC workstation of I/O related functions and provide high-performance I/O functions and external interfaces. The high-performance mass storage system has the capabilities to ingest high-speed real-time data, perform signal or image processing, and stage, archive, and distribute the data. This mass storage system uses a hierarchical storage structure, thus reducing the total data storage cost, while maintaining high-I/O performance. The high-performance mass storage system is a network of low-cost parallel processors and storage devices. The nodes in the network have special I/O functions such as: SCSI controller, Ethernet controller, gateway controller, RS232 controller, IEEE488 controller, and digital/analog converter. The nodes are interconnected through high-speed direct memory access links to form a network. The topology of the network is easily reconfigurable to maximize system throughput for various applications. This high-performance mass storage system takes advantage of a 'busless' architecture for maximum expandability. The mass storage system consists of magnetic disks, a WORM optical disk jukebox, and an 8mm helical scan tape to form a hierarchical storage structure. Commonly used files are kept in the magnetic disk for fast retrieval. The optical disks are used as archive

Ground Glass Pozzolan in Conventional, High, and Ultra-High Performance Concrete

OpenAIRE

Tagnit-Hamou Arezki; Zidol Ablam; Soliman Nancy; Deschamps Joris; Omran Ahmed

2018-01-01

Ground-glass pozzolan (G) obtained by grinding the mixed-waste glass to same fineness of cement can act as a supplementary-cementitious material (SCM), given that it is an amorphous and a pozzolanic material. The G showed promising performances in different concrete types such as conventional concrete (CC), high-performance concrete (HPC), and ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). The current paper reports on the characteristics and performance of G in these concrete types. The use of G pro...

Overview of Parallel Platforms for Common High Performance Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Fryza

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with various parallel platforms used for high performance computing in the signal processing domain. More precisely, the methods exploiting the multicores central processing units such as message passing interface and OpenMP are taken into account. The properties of the programming methods are experimentally proved in the application of a fast Fourier transform and a discrete cosine transform and they are compared with the possibilities of MATLAB's built-in functions and Texas Instruments digital signal processors with very long instruction word architectures. New FFT and DCT implementations were proposed and tested. The implementation phase was compared with CPU based computing methods and with possibilities of the Texas Instruments digital signal processing library on C6747 floating-point DSPs. The optimal combination of computing methods in the signal processing domain and new, fast routines' implementation is proposed as well.

Figure and finish characterization of high performance metal mirrors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takacs, P.Z.; Church, E.L.

1991-10-01

Most metal mirrors currently used in synchrotron radiation (SR) beam lines to reflect soft x-rays are made of electroless nickel plate on an aluminum substrate. This material combination has allowed optical designers to incorporate exotic cylindrical aspheres into grazing incidence x-ray beam-handling systems by taking advantage of single-point diamond machining techniques. But the promise of high-quality electroless nickel surfaces has generally exceeded the performance. We will examine the evolution of electroless nickel surfaces through a study of the quality of mirrors delivered for use at the National Synchrotron Light Source over the past seven years. We have developed techniques to assess surface quality based on the measurement of surface roughness and figure errors with optical profiling instruments. It is instructive to see how the quality of the surface is related to the complexity of the machine operations required to produce it

Effectiveness of high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation at tender points as adjuvant therapy for patients with fibromyalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Carbonario, F; Matsutani, L A; Yuan, S L K; Marques, A P

2013-04-01

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome associated with sleep disorders, fatigue and psychological symptoms. Combinations therapies, such as electrotherapy and therapeutic exercises have been used in the clinical practice. To assess the efficacy of high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as an adjuvant therapy to aerobic and stretching exercises, for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Controlled clinical trial. Unit of rehabilitation of a public hospital. Twenty-eight women aged 52.4±7.5 years, with fibromyalgia. A visual analogue scale measured pain intensity; tender points pain threshold, by dolorimetry; and quality of life, by the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire. All subjects participated in an eight-week program consisting of aerobic exercises, followed by static stretching of muscle chains. In TENS group, high-frequency (150 Hz) was applied on bilateral tender points of trapezium and supraspinatus. TENS group had a greater pain reduction (mean change score=-2.0±2.9 cm) compared to Without TENS group (-0.7±3.7 cm). There was a difference between mean change scores of each group for pain threshold (right trapezium: 0.2±1 kg/cm² in TENS group and -0.2±1.2 kg/cm² in Without TENS group). In the evaluation of clinically important changes, patients receiving TENS had relevant improvement of pain, work performance, fatigue, stiffness, anxiety and depression compared to those not receiving TENS. It has suggested that high-frequency TENS as an adjuvant therapy is effective in relieving pain, anxiety, fatigue, stiffness, and in improving ability to work of patients with fibromyalgia. High-frequency TENS may be used as a short-term complementary treatment of fibromyalgia.

Steam generators secondary side chemical cleaning at Point Lepreau using the Siemen's high temperature process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, K.; MacNeil, C.; Odar, S.

1996-01-01

The secondary sides of all four steam generators at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Stations were cleaned during the 1995 annual outage run-down using the Siemens high temperature chemical cleaning process. Traditionally all secondary side chemical cleaning exercises in CANDU as well as the other nuclear power stations in North America have been conducted using a process developed in conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The Siemens high temperature process was applied for the first time in North America at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station (PLGS). The paper discusses experiences related to the pre and post award chemical cleaning activities, chemical cleaning application, post cleaning inspection results and waste handling activities. (author)

Indoor Air Quality in High Performance Schools

Science.gov (United States)

High performance schools are facilities that improve the learning environment while saving energy, resources, and money. The key is understanding the lifetime value of high performance schools and effectively managing priorities, time, and budget.

Development of structural technology for a high performance spacer grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Kee Nam; Kim, H. K.; Kang, H. S.

2003-03-01

A spacer grid in a LWR fuel assembly is a key structural component to support fuel rods and to enhance the heat transfer from the fuel rod to the coolant. In this research, the main research items are the development of inherent and high performance spacer grid shapes, the establishment of mechanical/structural analysis and test technology, and the set-up of basic test facilities for the spacer grid. The main research areas and results are as follows. 1. 14 different spacer grid candidates have been invented and applied for domestic and US patents. Among the candidates six are chosen from the patent. 2. Two kinds of spacer grids are finally selected for the advanced LWR fuel after detailed performance tests on the candidates and commercial spacer grids from a mechanical/structural point of view. According to the test results the features of the selected spacer grids are better than those of the commercial spacer grids. 3. Four kinds of basic test facilities are set up and the relevant test technologies are established. 4. Mechanical/structural analysis models and technology for spacer grid performance are developed and the analysis results are compared with the test results to enhance the reliability of the models

Advanced high performance solid wall blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Malang, S.; Nishio, S.; Raffray, R.; Sagara, A.

2002-01-01

First wall and blanket (FW/blanket) design is a crucial element in the performance and acceptance of a fusion power plant. High temperature structural and breeding materials are needed for high thermal performance. A suitable combination of structural design with the selected materials is necessary for D-T fuel sufficiency. Whenever possible, low afterheat, low chemical reactivity and low activation materials are desired to achieve passive safety and minimize the amount of high-level waste. Of course the selected fusion FW/blanket design will have to match the operational scenarios of high performance plasma. The key characteristics of eight advanced high performance FW/blanket concepts are presented in this paper. Design configurations, performance characteristics, unique advantages and issues are summarized. All reviewed designs can satisfy most of the necessary design goals. For further development, in concert with the advancement in plasma control and scrape off layer physics, additional emphasis will be needed in the areas of first wall coating material selection, design of plasma stabilization coils, consideration of reactor startup and transient events. To validate the projected performance of the advanced FW/blanket concepts the critical element is the need for 14 MeV neutron irradiation facilities for the generation of necessary engineering design data and the prediction of FW/blanket components lifetime and availability

Trajectories of Symptom Clusters, Performance Status, and Quality of Life During Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in Patients With High-Grade Brain Cancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sang-Hee; Byun, Youngsoon

Symptom clusters must be identified in patients with high-grade brain cancers for effective symptom management during cancer-related therapy. The aims of this study were to identify symptom clusters in patients with high-grade brain cancers and to determine the relationship of each cluster with the performance status and quality of life (QOL) during concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Symptoms were assessed using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, and the performance status was evaluated using the Karnofsky Performance Scale. Quality of life was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General. This prospective longitudinal survey was conducted before CCRT and at 2 to 3 weeks and 4 to 6 weeks after the initiation of CCRT. A total of 51 patients with newly diagnosed primary malignant brain cancer were included. Six symptom clusters were identified, and 2 symptom clusters were present at each time point (ie, "negative emotion" and "neurocognitive" clusters before CCRT, "negative emotion and decreased vitality" and "gastrointestinal and decreased sensory" clusters at 2-3 weeks, and "body image and decreased vitality" and "gastrointestinal" clusters at 4-6 weeks). The symptom clusters at each time point demonstrated a significant relationship with the performance status or QOL. Differences were observed in symptom clusters in patients with high-grade brain cancers during CCRT. In addition, the symptom clusters were correlated with the performance status and QOL of patients, and these effects could change during CCRT. The results of this study will provide suggestions for interventions to treat or prevent symptom clusters in patients with high-grade brain cancer during CCRT.

High-performance OPCPA laser system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuegel, J.D.; Bagnoud, V.; Bromage, J.; Begishev, I.A.; Puth, J.

2006-01-01

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is ideally suited for amplifying ultra-fast laser pulses since it provides broadband gain across a wide range of wavelengths without many of the disadvantages of regenerative amplification. A high-performance OPCPA system has been demonstrated as a prototype for the front end of the OMEGA Extended Performance (EP) Laser System. (authors)

High-performance OPCPA laser system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuegel, J.D.; Bagnoud, V.; Bromage, J.; Begishev, I.A.; Puth, J. [Rochester Univ., Lab. for Laser Energetics, NY (United States)

2006-06-15

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is ideally suited for amplifying ultra-fast laser pulses since it provides broadband gain across a wide range of wavelengths without many of the disadvantages of regenerative amplification. A high-performance OPCPA system has been demonstrated as a prototype for the front end of the OMEGA Extended Performance (EP) Laser System. (authors)

Analysis of proinsulin and its conversion products by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linde, S; Welinder, B S; Nielsen, Jens Høiriis

1993-01-01

. Most mammals produce a single insulin, but in rodents two non-allelic insulin genes are expressed. There is an inverse ratio between the two insulins in rats and mice, the reason for this being unknown. It has been suggested that differences in transcription, translation (biosynthesis) and...... PIM (intact proinsulin or its intermediates) has been incompletely determined. Studies of the biosynthesis of proinsulins and their conversion with the purpose of revealing some of these points depend on accessible reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) analyses capable...

Student Bedtimes, Academic Performance, and Health in a Residential High School

Science.gov (United States)

Wernette, Maliah J.; Emory, Jan

2017-01-01

Inadequate sleep among adolescents is considered an epidemic in the United States. Late night bedtimes could be an important factor in academic performance and health with consequences continuing throughout adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between late night bedtimes, academic performance (grade point average…

The new TOYOTA 4.8L V10 petrol high performance engine for LEXUS LFA super car

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okamoto, Takamitsu; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Tsukamoto, Keisuke; Nagai, Masakatsu; Uchida, Takahiro [Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan); Maruyama, Heiji [Yamaha Motor Corporation (Japan)

2011-07-01

The new 1LR-GUE V10 high performance engine was designed exclusively for the Lexus LFA super car (below picture). Achieving the speed and performance of a true super car was merely the starting point. The engine was developed to create a feeling of infinite acceleration potential. Response is instant and based on close understanding of driver's reactions. Vehicle handling provides unsurpassed response and feedback with ideal transient torque characteristics and marvelous sound with unique design. The performance of this engine was accomplished by combining world-class high revolution speed and high power (per liter). The new 4.8L engine produces 412kW (560hp) at 8700rpm and redline is 9000rpm (fuel cut-off speed is 9500rpm). It meets the latest emission standard Euro V and achieves good fuel consumption with a wide range stoechiometric air fuel ratio, till speeds up to 240km/h. (orig.)

High performance in software development

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Haapio, Petri; Liukkonen, Juha-Matti

2015-01-01

What are the ingredients of high-performing software? Software development, especially for large high-performance systems, is one the most complex tasks mankind has ever tried. Technological change leads to huge opportunities but challenges our old ways of working. Processing large data sets, possibly in real time or with other tight computational constraints, requires an efficient solution architecture. Efficiency requirements span from the distributed storage and large-scale organization of computation and data onto the lowest level of processor and data bus behavior. Integrating performance behavior over these levels is especially important when the computation is resource-bounded, as it is in numerics: physical simulation, machine learning, estimation of statistical models, etc. For example, memory locality and utilization of vector processing are essential for harnessing the computing power of modern processor architectures due to the deep memory hierarchies of modern general-purpose computers. As a r...

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering '16 : Transactions of the High Performance Computing Center, Stuttgart (HLRS) 2016

CERN Document Server

Kröner, Dietmar; Resch, Michael

2016-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in supercomputer simulation. It includes the latest findings from leading researchers using systems from the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in 2016. The reports cover all fields of computational science and engineering ranging from CFD to computational physics and from chemistry to computer science with a special emphasis on industrially relevant applications. Presenting findings of one of Europe’s leading systems, this volume covers a wide variety of applications that deliver a high level of sustained performance. The book covers the main methods in high-performance computing. Its outstanding results in achieving the best performance for production codes are of particular interest for both scientists and engineers. The book comes with a wealth of color illustrations and tables of results.

MinXSS-1 CubeSat On-Orbit Pointing and Power Performance: The First Flight of the Blue Canyon Technologies XACT 3-axis Attitude Determination and Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, James Paul; Baumgart, Matt; Rogler, Bryan; Downs, Chloe; Williams, Margaret; Woods, Thomas N.; Palo, Scott; Chamberlin, Phillip C.; Solomon, Stanley; Jones, Andrew; Li, Xinlin; Kohnert, Rick; Caspi, Amir

2017-12-01

The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) is a three-unit (3U) CubeSat designed for a three-month mission to study solar soft X-ray spectral irradiance. The first of the two flight models was deployed from the International Space Station in May 2016, and operated for one year before its natural deorbiting. This was the first flight of the Blue Canyon Technologies XACT 3-axis attitude determination and control system - a commercially available, high-precision pointing system. The performance of the pointing system on orbit was characterized, including performance at low altitudes where drag torque builds up. It was found that the pointing accuracy was 0.0042° - 0.0117° (15" - 42", 3σ, axis dependent) consistently from 190 km - 410 km, slightly better than the specification sheet states. Peak-to-peak jitter was estimated to be 0.0073° (10 s^-1) - 0.0183° (10 s^-1) (26" (10 s^-1) - 66" (10 s^-1), 3σ). The system was capable of dumping mome ntum until an altitude of 185 km. Small amounts of sensor degradation were found in the star tracker and coarse sun sensor. The mission profile did not require high-agility maneuvers, so it was not possible to characterize this metric. Without a GPS receiver, it was necessary to periodically upload ephemeris information to update the orbit propagation model and maintain pointing. At 400 km, these uploads were required once every other week; at ˜270 km, they were required every day. The power performance of the electric power system was also characterized, including use of a novel pseudo-peak power tracker - a resistor that limited the current draw from the battery on the solar panels. With 19 30% efficient solar cells and an 8 W system load, the power balance had 65% of margin on orbit. The current paper presents several recommendations to other CubeSat programs throughout.

High-performance computing — an overview

Science.gov (United States)

Marksteiner, Peter

1996-08-01

An overview of high-performance computing (HPC) is given. Different types of computer architectures used in HPC are discussed: vector supercomputers, high-performance RISC processors, various parallel computers like symmetric multiprocessors, workstation clusters, massively parallel processors. Software tools and programming techniques used in HPC are reviewed: vectorizing compilers, optimization and vector tuning, optimization for RISC processors; parallel programming techniques like shared-memory parallelism, message passing and data parallelism; and numerical libraries.

Team Development for High Performance Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Schermerhorn, John R., Jr.

1986-01-01

The author examines a team development approach to management that creates shared commitments to performance improvement by focusing the attention of managers on individual workers and their task accomplishments. It uses the "high-performance equation" to help managers confront shared beliefs and concerns about performance and develop realistic…

A Unified Performance Analysis of Free-Space Optical Links over Gamma-Gamma Turbulence Channels with Pointing Errors

KAUST Repository

Ansari, Imran Shafique

2013-11-13

In this work, we present a unified performance analysis of a free-space optical (FSO) link that accounts for pointing errors and both types of detection techniques (i.e. intensity modulation/direct detection as well as heterodyne detection). More specifically, we present unified exact closed-form expressions for the cumulative distribution function, the probability density function, the moment generating function, and the moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a single link FSO transmission system, all in terms of the Meijer\\'s G function except for the moments that is in terms of simple elementary functions. We then capitalize on these unified results to offer unified exact closed-form expressions for various performance metrics of FSO link transmission systems, such as, the outage probability, the higher-order amount of fading (AF), the average error rate for binary and M-ary modulation schemes, and the ergodic capacity, all in terms of Meijer\\'s G functions except for the higher-order AF that is in terms of simple elementary functions. Additionally, we derive the asymptotic results for all the expressions derived earlier in terms of Meijer\\'s G function in the high SNR regime in terms of simple elementary functions via an asymptotic expansion of the Meijer\\'s G function. We also derive new asymptotic expressions for the ergodic capacity in the low as well as high SNR regimes in terms of simple elementary functions via utilizing moments. All the presented results are verified via computer-based Monte-Carlo simulations.

Melting point of polymers under high pressure Part I: Influence of the polymer properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeger, Andreas; Freitag, Detlef; Freidel, Frank; Luft, Gerhard

2004-01-01

The pressure dependence of the melting point of various polymers including homo- and copolymers (HDPE, LDPE, PP and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA)) was investigated under nitrogen atmosphere up to 330 MPa within a high pressure differential thermal analysis cell designed by our group. The properties of the polymers (vinylacetate content, melt flow index, molecular weight, isotactic index, crystallinity, density, and frequency of branching) have been correlated with the change of the melting point under pressure (dT m /dp). It could be shown that the melting point always increases linearly with pressure up to 330 MPa. The pressure dependence was found to be in the range of 11-17 K/(100 MPa). From these results it is possible to approximate dT m /dp using the enthalpy of fusion of the polymers at ambient pressure

Testing the renormalisation group theory of cooperative transitions at the lambda point of helium

Science.gov (United States)

Lipa, J. A.; Li, Q.; Chui, T. C. P.; Marek, D.

1988-01-01

The status of high resolution tests of the renormalization group theory of cooperative phase transitions performed near the lambda point of helium is described. The prospects for performing improved tests in space are discussed.

Third-order optical susceptibility in polythiophene thin films prepared by spin-coating from high-boiling-point solvents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Takashi; Shinke, Wataru; Nagase, Takashi; Murakami, Shuichi; Naito, Hiroyoshi

2014-01-01

We examined the enhancements in the third-order optical susceptibility (χ (3) ) of spin-coated thin films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) using an anhydrous solvent with a high boiling point. The χ (3) value was found to be enhanced as the boiling point of the solvent increased. In this study, the largest value of χ (3) was obtained for thin films that were spin-coated in an inert atmosphere using anhydrous dichlorobenzene and then was subsequently exposed to its vapor for 1 h. The maximum value of the imaginary part of χ (3) was determined to be 1.8 × 10 -9 esu, which is more than three times greater than that of thin films spin-coated in an ambient atmosphere using a solvent with a low boiling point, such as chloroform. - Highlights: • Enhancements in nonlinear optical properties of a conjugated polymer were examined. • Thin films were fabricated by spin-coating using a solvent with a high boiling point. • The third-order optical susceptibility increased with increasing boiling point. • An additional enhancement was obtained by the vapor-treatment technique. • These thin films were sufficiently homogeneous for use in nonlinear optical devices

75 FR 20033 - Winston-Salem Southbound Railway Company-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption-High Point...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-16

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [STB Finance Docket No. 35338] Winston-Salem Southbound Railway Company--Corporate Family Transaction Exemption--High Point, Thomasville... under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3) for a transaction within a corporate family. Applicants state that HPTD will...

Verification of the Solar Dynamics Observatory High Gain Antenna Pointing Algorithm Using Flight Data

Science.gov (United States)

Bourkland, Kristin L.; Liu, Kuo-Chia

2011-01-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA spacecraft designed to study the Sun. It was launched on February 11, 2010 into a geosynchronous orbit, and uses a suite of attitude sensors and actuators to finely point the spacecraft at the Sun. SDO has three science instruments: the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE). SDO uses two High Gain Antennas (HGAs) to send science data to a dedicated ground station in White Sands, New Mexico. In order to meet the science data capture budget, the HGAs must be able to transmit data to the ground for a very large percentage of the time. Each HGA is a dual-axis antenna driven by stepper motors. Both antennas transmit data at all times, but only a single antenna is required in order to meet the transmission rate requirement. For portions of the year, one antenna or the other has an unobstructed view of the White Sands ground station. During other periods, however, the view from both antennas to the Earth is blocked for different portions of the day. During these times of blockage, the two HGAs take turns pointing to White Sands, with the other antenna pointing out to space. The HGAs handover White Sands transmission responsibilities to the unblocked antenna. There are two handover seasons per year, each lasting about 72 days, where the antennas hand off control every twelve hours. The non-tracking antenna slews back to the ground station by following a ground commanded trajectory and arrives approximately 5 minutes before the formerly tracking antenna slews away to point out into space. The SDO Attitude Control System (ACS) runs at 5 Hz, and the HGA Gimbal Control Electronics (GCE) run at 200 Hz. There are 40 opportunities for the gimbals to step each ACS cycle, with a hardware limitation of no more than one step every three GCE cycles. The ACS calculates the desired gimbal motion for tracking the ground station or for slewing

Beyond Jeopardy and Lectures: Using "Microsoft PowerPoint" as a Game Design Tool to Teach Science

Science.gov (United States)

Siko, Jason; Barbour, Michael; Toker, Sacip

2011-01-01

To date, research involving homemade PowerPoint games as an instructional tool has not shown statistically significant gains in student performance. This paper examines the results of a study comparing the performance of students in a high school chemistry course who created homemade PowerPoint games as a test review with the students who used a…

High Performance Walls in Hot-Dry Climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoeschele, Marc [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Springer, David [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); Dakin, Bill [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States); German, Alea [Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI), Davis, CA (United States)

2015-01-01

High performance walls represent a high priority measure for moving the next generation of new homes to the Zero Net Energy performance level. The primary goal in improving wall thermal performance revolves around increasing the wall framing from 2x4 to 2x6, adding more cavity and exterior rigid insulation, achieving insulation installation criteria meeting ENERGY STAR's thermal bypass checklist. To support this activity, in 2013 the Pacific Gas & Electric Company initiated a project with Davis Energy Group (lead for the Building America team, Alliance for Residential Building Innovation) to solicit builder involvement in California to participate in field demonstrations of high performance wall systems. Builders were given incentives and design support in exchange for providing site access for construction observation, cost information, and builder survey feedback. Information from the project was designed to feed into the 2016 Title 24 process, but also to serve as an initial mechanism to engage builders in more high performance construction strategies. This Building America project utilized information collected in the California project.

Flexible nanoscale high-performance FinFETs

KAUST Repository

Sevilla, Galo T.

2014-10-28

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), flexible high-performance nanoscale electronics are more desired. At the moment, FinFET is the most advanced transistor architecture used in the state-of-the-art microprocessors. Therefore, we show a soft-etch based substrate thinning process to transform silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based nanoscale FinFET into flexible FinFET and then conduct comprehensive electrical characterization under various bending conditions to understand its electrical performance. Our study shows that back-etch based substrate thinning process is gentler than traditional abrasive back-grinding process; it can attain ultraflexibility and the electrical characteristics of the flexible nanoscale FinFET show no performance degradation compared to its rigid bulk counterpart indicating its readiness to be used for flexible high-performance electronics.

Performance Analysis of Several GPS/Galileo Precise Point Positioning Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Afifi, Akram; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

2015-06-19

This paper examines the performance of several precise point positioning (PPP) models, which combine dual-frequency GPS/Galileo observations in the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD) modes. These include the traditional un-differenced model, the decoupled clock model, the semi-decoupled clock model, and the between-satellite single-difference model. We take advantage of the IGS-MGEX network products to correct for the satellite differential code biases and the orbital and satellite clock errors. Natural Resources Canada's GPSPace PPP software is modified to handle the various GPS/Galileo PPP models. A total of six data sets of GPS and Galileo observations at six IGS stations are processed to examine the performance of the various PPP models. It is shown that the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model, the GPS decoupled clock model, and the semi-decoupled clock GPS/Galileo PPP model improve the convergence time by about 25% in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. In addition, the semi-decoupled GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution precision by about 25% compared to the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model. Moreover, the BSSD GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution convergence time by about 50%, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS PPP model, regardless of the type of BSSD combination used. As well, the BSSD model improves the precision of the estimated parameters by about 50% and 25% when the loose and the tight combinations are used, respectively, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. Comparable results are obtained through the tight combination when either a GPS or a Galileo satellite is selected as a reference.

Point -of -care testing (POCT) in molecular diagnostics: Performance evaluation of GeneXpert HCV RNA test in diagnosing and monitoring of HCV infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Ekta; Agarwala, Pragya; Kumar, Guresh; Maiwall, Rakhi; Sarin, Shiv Kumar

2017-03-01

Molecular testing at the point-of-care may turn out to be game changer for HCV diagnosis and treatment monitoring, through increased sensitivity, reduced turnaround time, and ease of performance. One such assay GeneXpert ® has recently been released. Comparative analysis between performances of GeneXpert ® and Abbott HCV-RNA was done. 174 HCV infected patients were recruited and, one time plasma samples from 154 patients and repeated samples from 20 patients, obtained at specific treatment time-points (0, 4, 12 and 24) weeks were serially re-tested on Xpert ® . Genotype 3 was the commonest, seen in 80 (66%) of the cases, genotype 1 in 34 (28.3%), genotype 4 in 4 (3.3%) and genotypes 2 and 5 in 1 (0.8%) each. Median HCV RNA load was 4.69 log 10 (range: 0-6.98log 10 ) IU/ml. Overall a very good correlation was seen between the two assays (R 2 =0.985), concordance of the results between the assays was seen in 138 samples (89.6%). High and low positive standards were tested ten times on Xpert ® to evaluate the precision and the coefficient of variation was 0.01 for HPC and 0.07 for the LPC. Monitoring of patients on two different regimes of treatment, pegylated interferon plus ribavirin and sofosbuvir plus ribavirin was done by both the systems at baseline, 4, 12 and 24 weeks. Perfect correlation between the assays in the course of therapy at different treatment time- point in genotypes 3 and 1 was seen. The study demonstrates excellent performance of the Xpert ® HCV assay in viral load assessment and in treatment course monitoring consistency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface-bonded ionic liquid stationary phases in high-performance liquid chromatography--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pino, Verónica; Afonso, Ana M

2012-02-10

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a class of ionic, nonmolecular solvents which remain in liquid state at temperatures below 100°C. ILs possess a variety of properties including low to negligible vapor pressure, high thermal stability, miscibility with water or a variety of organic solvents, and variable viscosity. IL-modified silica as novel high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases have attracted considerable attention for their differential behavior and low free-silanol activity. Indeed, around 21 surface-confined ionic liquids (SCIL) stationary phases have been developed in the last six years. Their chromatographic behavior has been studied, and, despite the presence of a positive charge on the stationary phase, they showed considerable promise for the separation of neutral solutes (not only basic analytes), when operated in reversed phase mode. This aspect points to the potential for truly multimodal stationary phases. This review attempts to summarize the state-of-the-art about SCIL phases including their preparation, chromatographic behavior, and analytical performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On barrier performance of high compaction bentonite in facilities of disposing high level radioactive wastes in formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Hidefumi; Komada, Hiroya

1989-01-01

As for the method of disposing high level radioactive wastes generated in the reprocessing of spent fuel, at present formation disposal is regarded as most promising. The most important point in this formation disposal is to prevent the leak of radioactive nuclides within the disposal facilities into bedrocks and their move to the zone of human life. As the method of formation disposal, the canisters containing high level radioactive wastes are placed in the horizontal or vertical holes for disposal dug from horizontal tunnels which are several hundreds m underground, and the tunnels and disposal holes are filled again. For this filling material, the barrier performance to prevent and retard the leak of radioactive nuclides out of the disposal facilities is expected, and the characteristics of low water permeability, the adsorption of nuclides and long term stability are required. However, due to the decay heat of wastes just after the disposal, high temperature and drying condition arises, and this must be taken in consideration. The characteristics required for filling materials and the selection of the materials, the features and classification of bentonite, the properties of high compaction bentonite, and the move of water, heat and nuclides in high compaction bentonite are reported.(Kako, I.)

The Role of Performance Management in Creating and Maintaining a High-Performance Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André A. de Waal

2015-04-01

Full Text Available There is still a good deal of confusion in the literature about how the use of a performance management system affects overall organizational performance. Some researchers find that performance management enhances both the financial and non-financial results of an organization, while others do not find any positive effects or, at most, ambiguous effects. An important step toward getting more clarity in this relationship is to investigate the role performance management plays in creating and maintaining a high-performance organization (HPO. The purpose of this study is to integrate performance management analysis (PMA and high-performance organization (HPO. A questionnaire combining questions on PMA dimensions and HPO factors was administered to two European-based multinational firms. Based on 468 valid questionnaires, a correlation analysis was performed on the PMA dimensions and the HPO factors in order to test the impact of performance management on the factors of high organizational performance. The results show strong and significant correlations between all the PMA dimensions and all the HPO factors, indicating that a performance management system that fosters performance-driven behavior in the organization is of critical importance to strengthen overall financial and non-financial performance.

Development of new high-performance stainless steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Yong Soo

2002-01-01

This paper focused on high-performance stainless steels and their development status. Effect of nitrogen addition on super-stainless steel was discussed. Research activities at Yonsei University, on austenitic and martensitic high-performance stainless, steels, and the next-generation duplex stainless steels were introduced

vSphere high performance cookbook

CERN Document Server

Sarkar, Prasenjit

2013-01-01

vSphere High Performance Cookbook is written in a practical, helpful style with numerous recipes focusing on answering and providing solutions to common, and not-so common, performance issues and problems.The book is primarily written for technical professionals with system administration skills and some VMware experience who wish to learn about advanced optimization and the configuration features and functions for vSphere 5.1.

High Burnup Fuel Performance and Safety Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang, Je Keun; Lee, Chan Bok; Kim, Dae Ho (and others)

2007-03-15

The worldwide trend of nuclear fuel development is to develop a high burnup and high performance nuclear fuel with high economies and safety. Because the fuel performance evaluation code, INFRA, has a patent, and the superiority for prediction of fuel performance was proven through the IAEA CRP FUMEX-II program, the INFRA code can be utilized with commercial purpose in the industry. The INFRA code was provided and utilized usefully in the universities and relevant institutes domesticallly and it has been used as a reference code in the industry for the development of the intrinsic fuel rod design code.

Pilot points method for conditioning multiple-point statistical facies simulation on flow data

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wei; Jafarpour, Behnam

2018-05-01

We propose a new pilot points method for conditioning discrete multiple-point statistical (MPS) facies simulation on dynamic flow data. While conditioning MPS simulation on static hard data is straightforward, their calibration against nonlinear flow data is nontrivial. The proposed method generates conditional models from a conceptual model of geologic connectivity, known as a training image (TI), by strategically placing and estimating pilot points. To place pilot points, a score map is generated based on three sources of information: (i) the uncertainty in facies distribution, (ii) the model response sensitivity information, and (iii) the observed flow data. Once the pilot points are placed, the facies values at these points are inferred from production data and then are used, along with available hard data at well locations, to simulate a new set of conditional facies realizations. While facies estimation at the pilot points can be performed using different inversion algorithms, in this study the ensemble smoother (ES) is adopted to update permeability maps from production data, which are then used to statistically infer facies types at the pilot point locations. The developed method combines the information in the flow data and the TI by using the former to infer facies values at selected locations away from the wells and the latter to ensure consistent facies structure and connectivity where away from measurement locations. Several numerical experiments are used to evaluate the performance of the developed method and to discuss its important properties.

Stability at high performance in the MAST spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buttery, R.J.; Akers, R.; Arends, E. =

2003-01-01

The development of reliable H-modes on MAST, together with advances in heating power and a range of powerful diagnostics, has provided a platform to enable MAST to address some of he most important issues of tokamak stability. In particular the high β potential of the ST is highlighted with stable operation at β N ∼5-6 , β T ∼ 16% and β p as high as 1.9, confirmed by a range of profile diagnostics. Calculations indicate that β N levels are in the vicinity of no-wall stability limits. Studies have provided the first identification of the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) in the ST, using its behaviour to quantitatively validate predictions of NTM theory, previously only applied to conventional tokamaks. Experiments have demonstrated that sawteeth play a strong role in triggering NTMs - by avoiding large sawteeth much higher β N can, and has, been reached. Further studies have confirmed the NTM's significance, with large islands observed using the 300 point Thomson diagnostic, and locking of large n=1 modes frequently leading to disruptions. H-mode plasmas are also limited by ELMs, with confinement degraded as ELM frequency rises. However, unlike the conventional tokamak, the ELMs in high performing regimes on MAST (H IPB98Y2 ∼1) appear to be type III in nature. Modelling identifies instability to peeling modes, consistent with a type III interpretation, and shows considerable scope to raise pressure gradients (despite n=∞ ballooning theory predictions of instability) before ballooning type modes (perhaps associated with type I ELMs) occur. Finally sawteeth are shown not to remove the q=1 surface in the ST - other promising models are being explored. Thus research on MAST is not only demonstrating stable operation at high performance levels, and developing methods to control instabilities; it is also providing detailed tests of the stability physics and models applicable to conventional tokamaks, such as ITER. (author)

Danish High Performance Concretes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, M. P.; Christoffersen, J.; Frederiksen, J.

1994-01-01

In this paper the main results obtained in the research program High Performance Concretes in the 90's are presented. This program was financed by the Danish government and was carried out in cooperation between The Technical University of Denmark, several private companies, and Aalborg University...... concretes, workability, ductility, and confinement problems....

High-sensitivity detection of cardiac troponin I with UV LED excitation for use in point-of-care immunoassay.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodenko, Olga; Eriksson, Susann; Tidemand-Lichtenberg, Peter; Troldborg, Carl Peder; Fodgaard, Henrik; van Os, Sylvana; Pedersen, Christian

2017-08-01

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assay development enables determination of biological variation in healthy populations, more accurate interpretation of clinical results and points towards earlier diagnosis and rule-out of acute myocardial infarction. In this paper, we report on preliminary tests of an immunoassay analyzer employing an optimized LED excitation to measure on a standard troponin I and a novel research high-sensitivity troponin I assay. The limit of detection is improved by factor of 5 for standard troponin I and by factor of 3 for a research high-sensitivity troponin I assay, compared to the flash lamp excitation. The obtained limit of detection was 0.22 ng/L measured on plasma with the research high-sensitivity troponin I assay and 1.9 ng/L measured on tris-saline-azide buffer containing bovine serum albumin with the standard troponin I assay. We discuss the optimization of time-resolved detection of lanthanide fluorescence based on the time constants of the system and analyze the background and noise sources in a heterogeneous fluoroimmunoassay. We determine the limiting factors and their impact on the measurement performance. The suggested model can be generally applied to fluoroimmunoassays employing the dry-cup concept.

Development of high performance lubricant through the compatibility of polyalphaolefin, polyurea and irradiated polytetrafluoroethylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ratao, Natalia Torres

2013-01-01

Lubricants are gaseous, liquid, semi solid or solid (powder) materials those form a film between two parties preventing friction. High performance lubricants are designed to work under severe conditions of temperature, pressure, and contamination. The most used are liquids (oils) and semi solids (greases). Greases are applied where oils can drain or in inaccessible places and are divided generally into two classes, soap and no soap. The most used non soap grease is polyurea, obtained by the reaction between amine and isocyanate, has highly thixotropic, high dielectric strength and excellent anticorrosive property, so it is widely used for lubrication of electric motors and shipbuilding machinery. For a grease with high performance, in this study was used a synthetic lubricant fluid, polyalphaolefin, and was also employed solid lubricant additive polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) due its lowest coefficient of friction, is found commercially irradiated in air to obtain smaller particles and to produce oxygenated terminal groups those are more compatible with the metal surface. The tests conducted were comparatively between pure polyurea grease and with PTFE additive. The characterizations were made by infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis of C, N and H and Free NCO index, proving the formation of four carbons polyurea (tetraurea). The functional analysis of drop point and oil separation showed high stability and compatibility between the polymers increased when PTFE was added. The excellent resistance of pure tetraurea grease to wear and extreme pressure were demonstrated by four-ball and practical bearings tests, characterizing this grease as a high performance lubricant, when compared to most used greases in the market. (author)

Promising high monetary rewards for future task performance increases intermediate task performance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire M Zedelius

Full Text Available In everyday life contexts and work settings, monetary rewards are often contingent on future performance. Based on research showing that the anticipation of rewards causes improved task performance through enhanced task preparation, the present study tested the hypothesis that the promise of monetary rewards for future performance would not only increase future performance, but also performance on an unrewarded intermediate task. Participants performed an auditory Simon task in which they responded to two consecutive tones. While participants could earn high vs. low monetary rewards for fast responses to every second tone, their responses to the first tone were not rewarded. Moreover, we compared performance under conditions in which reward information could prompt strategic performance adjustments (i.e., when reward information was presented for a relatively long duration to conditions preventing strategic performance adjustments (i.e., when reward information was presented very briefly. Results showed that high (vs. low rewards sped up both rewarded and intermediate, unrewarded responses, and the effect was independent of the duration of reward presentation. Moreover, long presentation led to a speed-accuracy trade-off for both rewarded and unrewarded tones, whereas short presentation sped up responses to rewarded and unrewarded tones without this trade-off. These results suggest that high rewards for future performance boost intermediate performance due to enhanced task preparation, and they do so regardless whether people respond to rewards in a strategic or non-strategic manner.

Promising high monetary rewards for future task performance increases intermediate task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zedelius, Claire M; Veling, Harm; Bijleveld, Erik; Aarts, Henk

2012-01-01

In everyday life contexts and work settings, monetary rewards are often contingent on future performance. Based on research showing that the anticipation of rewards causes improved task performance through enhanced task preparation, the present study tested the hypothesis that the promise of monetary rewards for future performance would not only increase future performance, but also performance on an unrewarded intermediate task. Participants performed an auditory Simon task in which they responded to two consecutive tones. While participants could earn high vs. low monetary rewards for fast responses to every second tone, their responses to the first tone were not rewarded. Moreover, we compared performance under conditions in which reward information could prompt strategic performance adjustments (i.e., when reward information was presented for a relatively long duration) to conditions preventing strategic performance adjustments (i.e., when reward information was presented very briefly). Results showed that high (vs. low) rewards sped up both rewarded and intermediate, unrewarded responses, and the effect was independent of the duration of reward presentation. Moreover, long presentation led to a speed-accuracy trade-off for both rewarded and unrewarded tones, whereas short presentation sped up responses to rewarded and unrewarded tones without this trade-off. These results suggest that high rewards for future performance boost intermediate performance due to enhanced task preparation, and they do so regardless whether people respond to rewards in a strategic or non-strategic manner.

Initial Experience Performing In-office Ultrasound-guided Transperineal Prostate Biopsy Under Local Anesthesia Using the PrecisionPoint Transperineal Access System.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Alexa R; Joice, Gregory A; Schwen, Zeyad R; Partin, Alan W; Allaf, Mohamad E; Gorin, Michael A

2018-05-01

To describe our procedural technique and initial outcomes performing in-office transperineal prostate biopsies using the PrecisionPoint Transperineal Access System (Perineologic, Cumberland, MD). Following institutional review board approval, we retrospectively reviewed the records of men who underwent an in-office transperineal prostate biopsy using the PrecisionPoint device. Records were reviewed for baseline characteristics, biopsy results, and postbiopsy complications. Between January 4, 2017 and August 23, 2017, 43 men underwent an in-office transperineal prostate biopsy using the PrecisionPoint Transperineal Access System. Patients had a median serum prostate specific antigen level of 6.1 ng/mL (range 0.8-32.9). Of the 43 biopsies, 12 (27.9%) were performed for active surveillance of low-risk prostate cancer and 31 (72.1%) were performed for cancer screening. Overall, 21 (48.8%) men were found to have prostate cancer. Among those on active surveillance, cancer was detected in 8 of 12 (66.7%) patients, with 2 of 12 (16.7%) found to have Gleason ≥3 + 4 = 7 prostate cancer. Additionally, cancer was detected in 13 of 31 (41.9%) patients undergoing a biopsy for prostate cancer screening, with 5 (16.1%) found to have Gleason ≥3 + 4 = 7 disease. In total, 3 (7.0%) patients experienced a postbiopsy complication: 2 (4.7%) with urinary retention and 1 (2.3%) with gross hematuria requiring catheterization. No patient experienced an infectious complication despite omission of periprocedural antibiotics in all cases. The PrecisionPoint device allowed for the successful performance of in-office transperineal prostate biopsies under local anesthesia without the need for periprocedural antibiotics. We observed an acceptable cancer detection rate with no infectious complications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Computationally determining the salience of decision points for real-time wayfinding support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makoto Takemiya

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This study introduces the concept of computational salience to explain the discriminatory efficacy of decision points, which in turn may have applications to providing real-time assistance to users of navigational aids. This research compared algorithms for calculating the computational salience of decision points and validated the results via three methods: high-salience decision points were used to classify wayfinders; salience scores were used to weight a conditional probabilistic scoring function for real-time wayfinder performance classification; and salience scores were correlated with wayfinding-performance metrics. As an exploratory step to linking computational and cognitive salience, a photograph-recognition experiment was conducted. Results reveal a distinction between algorithms useful for determining computational and cognitive saliences. For computational salience, information about the structural integration of decision points is effective, while information about the probability of decision-point traversal shows promise for determining cognitive salience. Limitations from only using structural information and motivations for future work that include non-structural information are elicited.

Normative Functional Performance Values in High School Athletes: The Functional Pre-Participation Evaluation Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Onate, James A; Starkel, Cambrie; Clifton, Daniel R; Best, Thomas M; Borchers, James; Chaudhari, Ajit; Comstock, R Dawn; Cortes, Nelson; Grooms, Dustin R; Hertel, Jay; Hewett, Timothy E; Miller, Meghan Maume; Pan, Xueliang; Schussler, Eric; Van Lunen, Bonnie L

2018-01-01

  The fourth edition of the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation recommends functional testing for the musculoskeletal portion of the examination; however, normative data across sex and grade level are limited. Establishing normative data can provide clinicians reference points with which to compare their patients, potentially aiding in the development of future injury-risk assessments and injury-mitigation programs.   To establish normative functional performance and limb-symmetry data for high school-aged male and female athletes in the United States.   Cross-sectional study.   Athletic training facilities and gymnasiums across the United States.   A total of 3951 male and female athletes who participated on high school-sponsored basketball, football, lacrosse, or soccer teams enrolled in this nationwide study.   Functional performance testing consisted of 3 evaluations. Ankle-joint range of motion, balance, and lower extremity muscular power and landing control were assessed via the weight-bearing ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and anterior single-legged hop-for-distance (SLHOP) tests, respectively. We used 2-way analyses of variance and χ 2 analyses to examine the effects of sex and grade level on ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and SLHOP test performance and symmetry.   The SLHOP performance differed between sexes (males = 187.8% ± 33.1% of limb length, females = 157.5% ± 27.8% of limb length; t = 30.3, P performance. We observed differences for SLHOP and ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge performance among grade levels, but these differences were not clinically meaningful.   We demonstrated differences in normative data for lower extremity functional performance during preparticipation physical evaluations across sex and grade levels. The results of this study will allow clinicians to compare sex- and grade-specific functional performances and implement approaches for preventing musculoskeletal

Comparison of ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography, ultra high performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography for the separation of synthetic cathinones.

Science.gov (United States)

Carnes, Stephanie; O'Brien, Stacey; Szewczak, Angelica; Tremeau-Cayel, Lauriane; Rowe, Walter F; McCord, Bruce; Lurie, Ira S

2017-09-01

A comparison of ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography, ultra high performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography for the separation of synthetic cathinones has been conducted. Nine different mixtures of bath salts were analyzed in this study. The three different chromatographic techniques were examined using a general set of controlled synthetic cathinones as well as a variety of other synthetic cathinones that exist as positional isomers. Overall 35 different synthetic cathinones were analyzed. A variety of column types and chromatographic modes were examined for developing each separation. For the ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography separations, analyses were performed using a series of Torus and Trefoil columns with either ammonium formate or ammonium hydroxide as additives, and methanol, ethanol or isopropanol organic solvents as modifiers. Ultra high performance liquid chromatographic separations were performed in both reversed phase and hydrophilic interaction chromatographic modes using SPP C18 and SPP HILIC columns. Gas chromatography separations were performed using an Elite-5MS capillary column. The orthogonality of ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography, ultra high performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography was examined using principal component analysis. For the best overall separation of synthetic cathinones, the use of ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography in combination with gas chromatography is recommended. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High Performance Electronics on Flexible Silicon

KAUST Repository

Sevilla, Galo T.

2016-09-01

Over the last few years, flexible electronic systems have gained increased attention from researchers around the world because of their potential to create new applications such as flexible displays, flexible energy harvesters, artificial skin, and health monitoring systems that cannot be integrated with conventional wafer based complementary metal oxide semiconductor processes. Most of the current efforts to create flexible high performance devices are based on the use of organic semiconductors. However, inherent material\\'s limitations make them unsuitable for big data processing and high speed communications. The objective of my doctoral dissertation is to develop integration processes that allow the transformation of rigid high performance electronics into flexible ones while maintaining their performance and cost. In this work, two different techniques to transform inorganic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics into flexible ones have been developed using industry compatible processes. Furthermore, these techniques were used to realize flexible discrete devices and circuits which include metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors, the first demonstration of flexible Fin-field-effect-transistors, and metal-oxide-semiconductors-based circuits. Finally, this thesis presents a new technique to package, integrate, and interconnect flexible high performance electronics using low cost additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing and inkjet printing. This thesis contains in depth studies on electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the fabricated devices.

High-Performance Reaction Wheel Optimization for Fine-Pointing Space Platforms: Minimizing Induced Vibration Effects on Jitter Performance plus Lessons Learned from Hubble Space Telescope for Current and Future Spacecraft Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hasha, Martin D.

2016-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) applies large-diameter optics (2.5-m primary mirror) for diffraction-limited resolution spanning an extended wavelength range (approx. 100-2500 nm). Its Pointing Control System (PCS) Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWAs), in the Support Systems Module (SSM), acquired an unprecedented set of high-sensitivity Induced Vibration (IV) data for 5 flight-certified RWAs: dwelling at set rotation rates. Focused on 4 key ratios, force and moment harmonic values (in 3 local principal directions) are extracted in the RWA operating range (0-3000 RPM). The IV test data, obtained under ambient lab conditions, are investigated in detail, evaluated, compiled, and curve-fitted; variational trends, core causes, and unforeseen anomalies are addressed. In aggregate, these values constitute a statistically-valid basis to quantify ground test-to-test variations and facilitate extrapolations to on-orbit conditions. Accumulated knowledge of bearing-rotor vibrational sources, corresponding harmonic contributions, and salient elements of IV key variability factors are discussed. An evolved methodology is presented for absolute assessments and relative comparisons of macro-level IV signal magnitude due to micro-level construction-assembly geometric details/imperfections stemming from both electrical drive and primary bearing design parameters. Based upon studies of same-size/similar-design momentum wheels' IV changes, upper estimates due to transitions from ground tests to orbital conditions are derived. Recommended HST RWA choices are discussed relative to system optimization/tradeoffs of Line-Of-Sight (LOS) vector-pointing focal-plane error driven by higher IV transmissibilities through low-damped structural dynamics that stimulate optical elements. Unique analytical disturbance results for orbital HST accelerations are described applicable to microgravity efforts. Conclusions, lessons learned, historical context/insights, and perspectives on future applications

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering '02 : Transactions of the High Performance Computing Center

CERN Document Server

Jäger, Willi

2003-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in modeling and simulation on supercomputers. Leading German research groups present their results achieved on high-end systems of the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) for the year 2002. Reports cover all fields of supercomputing simulation ranging from computational fluid dynamics to computer science. Special emphasis is given to industrially relevant applications. Moreover, by presenting results for both vector sytems and micro-processor based systems the book allows to compare performance levels and usability of a variety of supercomputer architectures. It therefore becomes an indispensable guidebook to assess the impact of the Japanese Earth Simulator project on supercomputing in the years to come.

Critical Factors Explaining the Leadership Performance of High-Performing Principals

Science.gov (United States)

Hutton, Disraeli M.

2018-01-01

The study explored critical factors that explain leadership performance of high-performing principals and examined the relationship between these factors based on the ratings of school constituents in the public school system. The principal component analysis with the use of Varimax Rotation revealed that four components explain 51.1% of the…

High Performance Walls in Hot-Dry Climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoeschele, Marc [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Springer, David [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dakin, Bill [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); German, Alea [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-01-01

High performance walls represent a high priority measure for moving the next generation of new homes to the Zero Net Energy performance level. The primary goal in improving wall thermal performance revolves around increasing the wall framing from 2x4 to 2x6, adding more cavity and exterior rigid insulation, achieving insulation installation criteria meeting ENERGY STAR's thermal bypass checklist, and reducing the amount of wood penetrating the wall cavity.

Active control on high-order coherence and statistic characterization on random phase fluctuation of two classical point sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Peilong; Li, Liming; Liu, Jianji; Zhang, Guoquan

2016-03-29

Young's double-slit or two-beam interference is of fundamental importance to understand various interference effects, in which the stationary phase difference between two beams plays the key role in the first-order coherence. Different from the case of first-order coherence, in the high-order optical coherence the statistic behavior of the optical phase will play the key role. In this article, by employing a fundamental interfering configuration with two classical point sources, we showed that the high- order optical coherence between two classical point sources can be actively designed by controlling the statistic behavior of the relative phase difference between two point sources. Synchronous position Nth-order subwavelength interference with an effective wavelength of λ/M was demonstrated, in which λ is the wavelength of point sources and M is an integer not larger than N. Interestingly, we found that the synchronous position Nth-order interference fringe fingerprints the statistic trace of random phase fluctuation of two classical point sources, therefore, it provides an effective way to characterize the statistic properties of phase fluctuation for incoherent light sources.

High-performance liquid chromatography of oligoguanylates at high pH

Science.gov (United States)

Stribling, R.; Deamer, D. (Principal Investigator)

1991-01-01

Because of the stable self-structures formed by oligomers of guanosine, standard high-performance liquid chromatography techniques for oligonucleotide fractionation are not applicable. Previously, oligoguanylate separations have been carried out at pH 12 using RPC-5 as the packing material. While RPC-5 provides excellent separations, there are several limitations, including the lack of a commercially available source. This report describes a new anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography method using HEMA-IEC BIO Q, which successfully separates different forms of the guanosine monomer as well as longer oligoguanylates. The reproducibility and stability at high pH suggests a versatile role for this material.

Behaviour of Nano Silica in Tension Zone of High Performance Concrete Beams

Science.gov (United States)

Jaishankar, P.; Vivek, D.

2017-07-01

High performance concrete (HPC) is similar to High strength concrete (HSC).It is because of lowering of water to cement ratio, which is needed to attain high strength and generally improves other properties. This concrete contains one or more cementitious materials such as fly ash, Silica fume or ground granulated blast furnace slag and usually a super plasticizer. The term ‘high performance’ is somewhat different because the essential feature of this concrete is that it’s ingredients and proportions are specifically chosen so as to have particularly appropriate properties for the expected use of the structure such as high strength and low permeability. Usage of nano scale properties such as Nano SiO2 can result in dramatically improved properties from conventional grain size materials of same chemical composition. This project is more interested in evaluate the behaviour of nano silica in concrete for 5%, 10%, and 15% volume fraction of cement. Flexural test for beams were conducted with two point loads, at different percentage as mentioned above. From results interpolated, Nano silica with higher order replacement gives optimized results compared to control specimens.

High speed cinematography of the initial break-point of latex condoms during the air burst test.

Science.gov (United States)

Stube, R; Voeller, B; Davidhazy, A

1990-06-01

High speed cinematography of latex condoms inflated to burst under standard (ISO) conditions reveals that rupture of the condom typically is initiated at a small focal point on the shank of the condom and then rapidly propagates throughout the condom's surface, often ending with partial or full severance of the condom at its point of attachment to the air burst instrument. This sequence of events is the reverse of that sometimes hypothesized to occur, where initiation of burst was considered to begin at the attachment point and to constitute a testing method artifact. This hypothesis of breakage at the attachment point, if true, would diminish the value of the air burst test as a standard for assessing manufacturing quality control as well as for condom strength measurements and comparisons.

Data from the analytical performance of the Abaxis Piccolo Xpress point of care analyzer in whole blood, serum, and plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazunori Murata

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to examine the analytical performance of 14 comprehensive metabolic panel analytes on the Abaxis Piccolo Xpress® Point of Care analyzer in serum, plasma, and whole blood. A method comparison was performed on all three specimen types intended for use on the Piccolo Xpress®: serum, heparinized plasma, and whole blood. This data is also presented in Murata et al. (2015 [1]. This article includes the actual Bland-Altman bias plots of the difference in results obtained for analytes in the comprehensive metabolic panel from the Abaxis Piccolo Xpress and the comparison instrument, the Ortho Vitros. Keywords: Clinical chemistry, Point-of care testing

Leptin status in adolescence is associated with academic performance in high school: a cross-sectional study in a Chilean birth cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Correa-Burrows, Paulina; Blanco, Estela; Reyes, Marcela; Castillo, Marcela; Peirano, Patricio; Algarín, Cecilia; Lozoff, Betsy; Gahagan, Sheila; Burrows, Raquel

2016-10-18

Leptin is a pleiotropic hormone associated with learning and memory via brain receptors. However, elevated plasma leptin levels may impair cognitive and memory functions. Since individual differences in memory performance affect students' ability to learn, we aimed to study the relation between leptin status in adolescence and school performance. We studied 568 adolescents aged 16-17 years from Santiago. A cross-sectional analysis was carried out on a birth cohort conducted in Santiago (Chile). We measured serum leptin concentration using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cut-offs from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) Study for 16-year-olds were used to define abnormally high leptin levels (hyperleptinaemia). Academic performance was measured using high-school grades and grade point average (GPA). Data were collected in 2009-2012; data analysis was performed in 2014. 15% of participants had hyperleptinaemia. They had significantly lower school grades and GPA compared with participants with normal leptin levels (eg, GPA mean difference=33.8 points). Leptin levels were negative and significantly correlated with school grades in 9th, 10th and 12th. Similarly, it was negatively correlated with high-school GPA. After controlling for health, sociodemographic and education confounders, the chances of having a performance ≥75th centile in students having hyperleptinaemia were 32% (95% CI 0.19% to 0.89%) that of students having normal serum leptin concentration. In high school students, abnormally high levels of leptin were associated with poorer academic performance. These findings support the idea of a relationship between leptin and cognition. Further research is needed on the cognitive effects of leptin in younger populations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Accurate Point-of-Care Detection of Ruptured Fetal Membranes: Improved Diagnostic Performance Characteristics with a Monoclonal/Polyclonal Immunoassay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda C. Rogers

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective Accurate and timely diagnosis of rupture of membranes (ROM is imperative to allow for gestational age-specific interventions. This study compared the diagnostic performance characteristics between two methods used for the detection of ROM as measured in the same patient. Methods Vaginal secretions were evaluated using the conventional fern test as well as a point-of-care monoclonal/polyclonal immunoassay test (ROM Plus® in 75 pregnant patients who presented to labor and delivery with complaints of leaking amniotic fluid. Both tests were compared to analytical confirmation of ROM using three external laboratory tests. Diagnostic performance characteristics were calculated including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV, negative predictive value (NPV, and accuracy. Results Diagnostic performance characteristics uniformly favored ROM detection using the immunoassay test compared to the fern test: sensitivity (100% vs. 77.8%, specificity (94.8% vs. 79.3%, PPV (75% vs. 36.8%, NPV (100% vs. 95.8%, and accuracy (95.5% vs. 79.1%. Conclusions The point-of-care immunoassay test provides improved diagnostic accuracy for the detection of ROM compared to fern testing. It has the potential of improving patient management decisions, thereby minimizing serious complications and perinatal morbidity.

Performance of Point and Range Queries for In-memory Databases using Radix Trees on GPUs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alam, Maksudul [ORNL; Yoginath, Srikanth B [ORNL; Perumalla, Kalyan S [ORNL

2016-01-01

In in-memory database systems augmented by hardware accelerators, accelerating the index searching operations can greatly increase the runtime performance of database queries. Recently, adaptive radix trees (ART) have been shown to provide very fast index search implementation on the CPU. Here, we focus on an accelerator-based implementation of ART. We present a detailed performance study of our GPU-based adaptive radix tree (GRT) implementation over a variety of key distributions, synthetic benchmarks, and actual keys from music and book data sets. The performance is also compared with other index-searching schemes on the GPU. GRT on modern GPUs achieves some of the highest rates of index searches reported in the literature. For point queries, a throughput of up to 106 million and 130 million lookups per second is achieved for sparse and dense keys, respectively. For range queries, GRT yields 600 million and 1000 million lookups per second for sparse and dense keys, respectively, on a large dataset of 64 million 32-bit keys.

Mapping with Small UAS: A Point Cloud Accuracy Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Charles; Jozkow, Grzegorz; Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota

2015-12-01

Interest in using inexpensive Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology for topographic mapping has recently significantly increased. Small UAS platforms equipped with consumer grade cameras can easily acquire high-resolution aerial imagery allowing for dense point cloud generation, followed by surface model creation and orthophoto production. In contrast to conventional airborne mapping systems, UAS has limited ground coverage due to low flying height and limited flying time, yet it offers an attractive alternative to high performance airborne systems, as the cost of the sensors and platform, and the flight logistics, is relatively low. In addition, UAS is better suited for small area data acquisitions and to acquire data in difficult to access areas, such as urban canyons or densely built-up environments. The main question with respect to the use of UAS is whether the inexpensive consumer sensors installed in UAS platforms can provide the geospatial data quality comparable to that provided by conventional systems. This study aims at the performance evaluation of the current practice of UAS-based topographic mapping by reviewing the practical aspects of sensor configuration, georeferencing and point cloud generation, including comparisons between sensor types and processing tools. The main objective is to provide accuracy characterization and practical information for selecting and using UAS solutions in general mapping applications. The analysis is based on statistical evaluation as well as visual examination of experimental data acquired by a Bergen octocopter with three different image sensor configurations, including a GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition, a Nikon D800 DSLR and a Velodyne HDL-32. In addition, georeferencing data of varying quality were acquired and evaluated. The optical imagery was processed by using three commercial point cloud generation tools. Comparing point clouds created by active and passive sensors by using different quality sensors, and finally

Characterization and Design of Digital Pointing Subsystem for Optical Communication Demonstrator

Science.gov (United States)

Racho, C.; Portillo, A.

1998-01-01

The Optical Communications Demonstrator (OCD) is a laboratory-based lasercom demonstration terminal designed to validate several key technologies, including beacon acquisition, high bandwidth tracking, precision bearn pointing, and point-ahead compensation functions. It has been under active development over the past few years. The instrument uses a CCD array detector for both spatial acquisition and high-bandwidth tracking, and a fiber coupled laser transmitter. The array detector tracking concept provides wide field-of-view acquisition and permits effective platform jitter compensation and point-ahead control using only one steering mirror. This paper describes the detailed design and characterization of the digital control loop system which includes the Fast Steering Mirror (FSM), the CCD image tracker, and the associated electronics. The objective is to improve the overall system performance using laboratory measured data. The. design of the digital control loop is based on a linear time invariant open loop model. The closed loop performance is predicted using the theoretical model. With the digital filter programmed into the OCD control software, data is collected to verify the predictions. This paper presents the results of the, system modeling and performance analysis. It has been shown that measurement data closely matches theoretical predictions. An important part of the laser communication experiment is the ability of FSM to track the laser beacon within the. required tolerances. The pointing must be maintained to an accuracy that is much smaller than the transmit signal beamwidth. For an earth orbit distance, the system must be able to track the receiving station to within a few microradians. The failure. to do so will result in a severely degraded system performance.

High performance simulation of lattice physics using enhanced transputer arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hey, A.J.G.; Jesshope, C.R.; Nicole, D.A.

1986-01-01

The authors describe an architecture under construction at Southampton using arrays of communicating transputers with enhanced floating-point capabilities. Performance in the Gigaflop range is expected. Algorithms for taking explicit advantage of this MIMD architecture are discussed using the Occam programming paradigm. (Auth.)

Development of high-performance concrete having high resistance to chloride penetration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Byung Hwan; Cha, Soo Won; Jang, Bong Seok; Jang, Seung Yup

2002-01-01

The resistance to chloride penetration is one of the simplest measures to determine the durability of concrete, e.g. resistance to freezing and thawing, corrosion of steel in concrete and other chemical attacks. Thus, high-performance concrete may be defined as the concrete having high resistance to chloride penetration as well as high strength. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the resistance to chloride penetration of different types of concrete and to develop high-performance concrete that has very high resistance to chloride penetration, and thus, can guarantee high durability. A large number of concrete specimens have been tested by the rapid chloride permeability test method as designated in AASHTO T 277 and ASTM C 1202. The major test variables include water-to-binder ratios, type of cement, type and amount of mineral admixtures (silica fume, fly ash and blast-furnace slag), maximum size of aggregates and air-entrainment. Test results show that concrete containing optimal amount of silica fume shows very high resistance to chloride penetration, and high-performance concrete developed in this study can be efficiently employed to enhance the durability of concrete structures in severe environments such as nuclear power plants, water-retaining structures and other offshore structures

Capturing Ridge Functions in High Dimensions from Point Queries

KAUST Repository

Cohen, Albert

2011-12-21

Constructing a good approximation to a function of many variables suffers from the "curse of dimensionality". Namely, functions on ℝ N with smoothness of order s can in general be captured with accuracy at most O(n -s/N) using linear spaces or nonlinear manifolds of dimension n. If N is large and s is not, then n has to be chosen inordinately large for good accuracy. The large value of N often precludes reasonable numerical procedures. On the other hand, there is the common belief that real world problems in high dimensions have as their solution, functions which are more amenable to numerical recovery. This has led to the introduction of models for these functions that do not depend on smoothness alone but also involve some form of variable reduction. In these models it is assumed that, although the function depends on N variables, only a small number of them are significant. Another variant of this principle is that the function lives on a low dimensional manifold. Since the dominant variables (respectively the manifold) are unknown, this leads to new problems of how to organize point queries to capture such functions. The present paper studies where to query the values of a ridge function f(x)=g(a · x) when both a∈ℝ N and g ∈ C[0,1] are unknown. We establish estimates on how well f can be approximated using these point queries under the assumptions that g ∈ C s[0,1]. We also study the role of sparsity or compressibility of a in such query problems. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Comparison of Sigma-Point and Extended Kalman Filters on a Realistic Orbit Determination Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Gaebler, John; Hur-Diaz. Sun; Carpenter, Russell

2010-01-01

Sigma-point filters have received a lot of attention in recent years as a better alternative to extended Kalman filters for highly nonlinear problems. In this paper, we compare the performance of the additive divided difference sigma-point filter to the extended Kalman filter when applied to orbit determination of a realistic operational scenario based on the Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission. For the scenario studied, both filters provided equivalent results. The performance of each is discussed in detail.

High performance parallel backprojection on FPGA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pfanner, Florian; Knaup, Michael; Kachelriess, Marc [Erlangen-Nuernberg Univ., Erlangen (Germany). Inst. of Medical Physics (IMP)

2011-07-01

Reconstruction of tomographic images, i.e., images from a Computed Tomography scanner, is a very time consuming issue. The most calculation power is needed for the backprojection step. A closer inspection shows that the algorithm for backprojection is easy to parallelize. FPGAs are able to execute many operations in the same time, so a highly parallel algorithm is a requirement for a powerful acceleration. For data flow rate maximization, we realized the backprojection in a pipelined structure with data throughput of one clock cycle. Due the hardware limitations of the FPGA, it is not possible to reconstruct the image as a whole. So it is necessary to split up the image and reconstruct these parts separately. Despite that, a reconstruction of 512 projections into a 5122 image is calculated within 13 ms on a Virtex 5 FPGA. To save hardware resources we use fixed point arithmetic with an accuracy of 23 bit for calculation. A comparison of the result image and an image, calculated with floating point arithmetic on CPU, shows that there are no differences between these images. (orig.)

Identifying High Performance ERP Projects

OpenAIRE

Stensrud, Erik; Myrtveit, Ingunn

2002-01-01

Learning from high performance projects is crucial for software process improvement. Therefore, we need to identify outstanding projects that may serve as role models. It is common to measure productivity as an indicator of performance. It is vital that productivity measurements deal correctly with variable returns to scale and multivariate data. Software projects generally exhibit variable returns to scale, and the output from ERP projects is multivariate. We propose to use Data Envelopment ...

Using a Malcolm Baldrige framework to understand high-performing clinical microsystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Tina C; Johnson, Julie K; Nelson, Eugene C; Batalden, Paul B

2007-10-01

BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND METHOD: The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) provides a set of criteria for organisational quality assessment and improvement that has been used by thousands of business, healthcare and educational organisations for more than a decade. The criteria can be used as a tool for self-evaluation, and are widely recognised as a robust framework for design and evaluation of healthcare systems. The clinical microsystem, as an organisational construct, is a systems approach for providing clinical care based on theories from organisational development, leadership and improvement. This study compared the MBNQA criteria for healthcare and the success factors of high-performing clinical microsystems to (1) determine whether microsystem success characteristics cover the same range of issues addressed by the Baldrige criteria and (2) examine whether this comparison might better inform our understanding of either framework. Both Baldrige criteria and microsystem success characteristics cover a wide range of areas crucial to high performance. Those particularly called out by this analysis are organisational leadership, work systems and service processes from a Baldrige standpoint, and leadership, performance results, process improvement, and information and information technology from the microsystem success characteristics view. Although in many cases the relationship between Baldrige criteria and microsystem success characteristics are obvious, in others the analysis points to ways in which the Baldrige criteria might be better understood and worked with by a microsystem through the design of work systems and a deep understanding of processes. Several tools are available for those who wish to engage in self-assessment based on MBNQA criteria and microsystem characteristics.

Examination of the gamma equilibrium point hypothesis when applied to single degree of freedom movements performed with different inertial loads.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellomo, A; Inbar, G

1997-01-01

One of the theories of human motor control is the gamma Equilibrium Point Hypothesis. It is an attractive theory since it offers an easy control scheme where the planned trajectory shifts monotionically from an initial to a final equilibrium state. The feasibility of this model was tested by reconstructing the virtual trajectory and the stiffness profiles for movements performed with different inertial loads and examining them. Three types of movements were tested: passive movements, targeted movements, and repetitive movements. Each of the movements was performed with five different inertial loads. Plausible virtual trajectories and stiffness profiles were reconstructed based on the gamma Equilibrium Point Hypothesis for the three different types of movements performed with different inertial loads. However, the simple control strategy supported by the model, where the planned trajectory shifts monotonically from an initial to a final equilibrium state, could not be supported for targeted movements performed with added inertial load. To test the feasibility of the model further we must examine the probability that the human motor control system would choose a trajectory more complicated than the actual trajectory to control.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatographic analyses of thermal degradation products of common plastics

OpenAIRE

Pacakova, V.; Leclercq, P.A.

1991-01-01

The thermo-oxidation of five commonly used materials, namely low-density polyethylene, retarded polyethylene, paper with a polyethylene foil, a milk package and filled polypropylene, was studied. Capillary gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to analyze the volatile degradation products, while high-performance liquid chromatography was employed to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The results are discussed from the point of view of toxicity of the prod...

Integrated plasma control for high performance tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphreys, D.A.; Deranian, R.D.; Ferron, J.R.; Johnson, R.D.; LaHaye, R.J.; Leuer, J.A.; Penaflor, B.G.; Walker, M.L.; Welander, A.S.; Jayakumar, R.J.; Makowski, M.A.; Khayrutdinov, R.R.

2005-01-01

Sustaining high performance in a tokamak requires controlling many equilibrium shape and profile characteristics simultaneously with high accuracy and reliability, while suppressing a variety of MHD instabilities. Integrated plasma control, the process of designing high-performance tokamak controllers based on validated system response models and confirming their performance in detailed simulations, provides a systematic method for achieving and ensuring good control performance. For present-day devices, this approach can greatly reduce the need for machine time traditionally dedicated to control optimization, and can allow determination of high-reliability controllers prior to ever producing the target equilibrium experimentally. A full set of tools needed for this approach has recently been completed and applied to present-day devices including DIII-D, NSTX and MAST. This approach has proven essential in the design of several next-generation devices including KSTAR, EAST, JT-60SC, and ITER. We describe the method, results of design and simulation tool development, and recent research producing novel approaches to equilibrium and MHD control in DIII-D. (author)

Highlighting High Performance: Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School; Upton, Massachusetts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2006-10-01

This brochure describes the key high-performance building features of the Blackstone Valley High School. The brochure was paid for by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative as part of their Green Schools Initiative. High-performance features described are daylighting and energy-efficient lighting, indoor air quality, solar energy, building envelope, heating and cooling systems, and water conservation. Energy cost savings are also discussed.

Ground Glass Pozzolan in Conventional, High, and Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tagnit-Hamou Arezki

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Ground-glass pozzolan (G obtained by grinding the mixed-waste glass to same fineness of cement can act as a supplementary-cementitious material (SCM, given that it is an amorphous and a pozzolanic material. The G showed promising performances in different concrete types such as conventional concrete (CC, high-performance concrete (HPC, and ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC. The current paper reports on the characteristics and performance of G in these concrete types. The use of G provides several advantages (technological, economical, and environmental. It reduces the production cost of concrete and decrease the carbon footprint of a traditional concrete structures. The rheology of fresh concrete can be improved due to the replacement of cement by non-absorptive glass particles. Strength and rigidity improvements in the concrete containing G are due to the fact that glass particles act as inclusions having a very high strength and elastic modulus that have a strengthening effect on the overall hardened matrix.

Downlink Coexistence Performance Assessment and Techniques for WiMAX Services from High Altitude Platform and Terrestrial Deployments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grace D

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract We investigate the performance and coexistence techniques for worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX delivered from high altitude platforms (HAPs and terrestrial systems in shared 3.5 GHz frequency bands. The paper shows that it is possible to provide WiMAX services from individual HAP systems. The coexistence performance is evaluated by appropriate choice of parameters, which include the HAP deployment spacing radius, directive antenna beamwidths based on adopted antenna models for HAPs and receivers. Illustrations and comparisons of coexistence techniques, for example, varying the antenna pointing offset, transmitting and receiving antenna beamwidth, demonstrate efficient ways to enhance the HAP system performance while effectively coexisting with terrestrial WiMAX systems.

On the Performance of the Measure for Diagnosing Multiple High Leverage Collinearity-Reducing Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arezoo Bagheri

2012-01-01

Full Text Available There is strong evidence indicating that the existing measures which are designed to detect a single high leverage collinearity-reducing observation are not effective in the presence of multiple high leverage collinearity-reducing observations. In this paper, we propose a cutoff point for a newly developed high leverage collinearity-influential measure and two existing measures ( and to identify high leverage collinearity-reducing observations, the high leverage points which hide multicollinearity in a data set. It is important to detect these observations as they are responsible for the misleading inferences about the fitting of the regression model. The merit of our proposed measure and cutoff point in detecting high leverage collinearity-reducing observations is investigated by using engineering data and Monte Carlo simulations.

Space telescope phase B definition study. Volume 2A: Science instruments, high speed point/area photometer

Science.gov (United States)

1976-01-01

The analysis and preliminary design of a high speed point/area photometer for the space telescope are summarized. The scientific objectives, photometer requirements, and design concepts are presented.

Multi-point optimization on meridional shape of a centrifugal pump impeller for performance improvement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pei, Ji; Wang, Wen Jie; Yuan, Shouqi [National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang (China)

2016-11-15

A wide operating band is important for a pump to safely perform at maximum efficiency while saving energy. To widen the operating range, a multi-point optimization process based on numerical simulations in order to improve impeller performance of a centrifugal pump used in nuclear plant applications is proposed by this research. The Reynolds average Navier Stokes equations are utilized to perform the calculations. The meridional shape of the impeller was optimized based on the following four parameters; shroud arc radius, hub arc radius, shroud angle, and hub angle as the design variables. Efficiencies calculated under 0.6Qd, 1.0Qd and 1.62Qd were selected as the three optimized objectives. The Design of experiment method was applied to generate various impellers while 35 impellers were generated by the Latin hypercube sampling method. A Response surface function based on a second order function was applied to construct a mathematical relationship between the objectives and design variables. A multi-objective genetic algorithm was utilized to solve the response surface function to obtain the best optimized objectives as well as the best combination of design parameters. The results indicated that the pump performance predicted by numerical simulation was in agreement with the experimental performance. The optimized efficiencies based on the three operating conditions were increased by 3.9 %, 6.1 % and 2.6 %, respectively. In addition, the velocity distribution, pressure distribution, streamline and turbulence kinetic energy distribution of the optimized and reference impeller were compared and analyzed to illustrate the performance improvement.

Multi-point optimization on meridional shape of a centrifugal pump impeller for performance improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei, Ji; Wang, Wen Jie; Yuan, Shouqi

2016-01-01

A wide operating band is important for a pump to safely perform at maximum efficiency while saving energy. To widen the operating range, a multi-point optimization process based on numerical simulations in order to improve impeller performance of a centrifugal pump used in nuclear plant applications is proposed by this research. The Reynolds average Navier Stokes equations are utilized to perform the calculations. The meridional shape of the impeller was optimized based on the following four parameters; shroud arc radius, hub arc radius, shroud angle, and hub angle as the design variables. Efficiencies calculated under 0.6Qd, 1.0Qd and 1.62Qd were selected as the three optimized objectives. The Design of experiment method was applied to generate various impellers while 35 impellers were generated by the Latin hypercube sampling method. A Response surface function based on a second order function was applied to construct a mathematical relationship between the objectives and design variables. A multi-objective genetic algorithm was utilized to solve the response surface function to obtain the best optimized objectives as well as the best combination of design parameters. The results indicated that the pump performance predicted by numerical simulation was in agreement with the experimental performance. The optimized efficiencies based on the three operating conditions were increased by 3.9 %, 6.1 % and 2.6 %, respectively. In addition, the velocity distribution, pressure distribution, streamline and turbulence kinetic energy distribution of the optimized and reference impeller were compared and analyzed to illustrate the performance improvement

Proceedings from the technical workshop on near-field performance assessment for high-level waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sellin, P.; Apted, M.; Gago, J.

1991-12-01

This report contains the proceedings of 'Technical workshop of near-filed performance assessment for high-level waste' held in Madrid October 15-17, 1990. It includes the invited presentations and summaries of the scientific discussions. The workshop covered several topics: * post-emplacement environment, * benchmarking of computer codes, * glass release, * spent-fuel release, * radionuclide solubility, * near-field transport processes, * coupled processes in the near-field, * integrated assessments, * sensitivity analyses and validation. There was an invited presentation on each topic followed by an extensive discussion. One of the points highlighted in the closing discussion of the workshop was the need for international cooperation in the field of near-field performance assessment. The general opinion was that this was best achieved in smaller groups discussing specific questions. (au) Separate abstracts were prepared for 9 papers in this volume

Mood states and motor performance: a study with high performance voleybol athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lenamar Fiorese Vieira

2008-07-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2008v10n1p62 The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between the sporting performance and mood states of high performance volleyball athletes. Twenty-three adult athletes of both sexes were assessed. The measurement instrument adopted was the POMS questionnaire. Data collection was carried out individually during the state championships. Dada were analyzed using descriptive statistics; the Friedman test for analysis of variance and the Mann-Whitney test for differences between means. The results demonstrated that both teams exhibited the mood state profi le corresponding to the “iceberg” profile. In the male team, vigor remained constant throughout all phases of the competition, while in the female team this element was unstable. The male team’s fatigue began low, during the training phase, with rates that rose as the competition progressed, with statistically significant differences between the fi rst and last matches the team played. In the female team, the confusion factor, which was at a high level during training, reduced progressively throughout the competition, with a difference that was signifi cant to p ≤ 0.05. With relation to performance and mood profi le, the female team exhibited statistically significant differences between the mean vigor and fatigue factors of high and low performance athletes. It is therefore concluded that the mood state profi le is a factor that impacts on the motor performance of these high performance teams.

High performance leadership in unusually challenging educational circumstances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andy Hargreaves

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper draws on findings from the results of a study of leadership in high performing organizations in three sectors. Organizations were sampled and included on the basis of high performance in relation to no performance, past performance, performance among similar peers and performance in the face of limited resources or challenging circumstances. The paper concentrates on leadership in four schools that met the sample criteria.  It draws connections to explanations of the high performance ofEstoniaon the OECD PISA tests of educational achievement. The article argues that leadership in these four schools that performed above expectations comprised more than a set of competencies. Instead, leadership took the form of a narrative or quest that pursued an inspiring dream with relentless determination; took improvement pathways that were more innovative than comparable peers; built collaboration and community including with competing schools; and connected short-term success to long-term sustainability.

An Investigation of the High Efficiency Estimation Approach of the Large-Scale Scattered Point Cloud Normal Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianglin Meng

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The normal vector estimation of the large-scale scattered point cloud (LSSPC plays an important role in point-based shape editing. However, the normal vector estimation for LSSPC cannot meet the great challenge of the sharp increase of the point cloud that is mainly attributed to its low computational efficiency. In this paper, a novel, fast method-based on bi-linear interpolation is reported on the normal vector estimation for LSSPC. We divide the point sets into many small cubes to speed up the local point search and construct interpolation nodes on the isosurface expressed by the point cloud. On the premise of calculating the normal vectors of these interpolated nodes, a normal vector bi-linear interpolation of the points in the cube is realized. The proposed approach has the merits of accurate, simple, and high efficiency, because the algorithm only needs to search neighbor and calculates normal vectors for interpolation nodes that are usually far less than the point cloud. The experimental results of several real and simulated point sets show that our method is over three times faster than the Elliptic Gabriel Graph-based method, and the average deviation is less than 0.01 mm.

77 FR 14963 - Special Local Regulation; Moss Point Rockin' the Riverfront Festival; O'Leary Lake; Moss Point, MS

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-14

...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Moss Point Rockin' the Riverfront Festival; O'Leary Lake; Moss Point, MS..., and persons on navigable waters during the Moss Point Rockin' the Riverfront Festival high speed boat... and vessels from safety hazards associated with the Moss Point Rockin' the Riverfront Festival high...

High-performance computing in seismology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-09-01

The scientific, technical, and economic importance of the issues discussed here presents a clear agenda for future research in computational seismology. In this way these problems will drive advances in high-performance computing in the field of seismology. There is a broad community that will benefit from this work, including the petroleum industry, research geophysicists, engineers concerned with seismic hazard mitigation, and governments charged with enforcing a comprehensive test ban treaty. These advances may also lead to new applications for seismological research. The recent application of high-resolution seismic imaging of the shallow subsurface for the environmental remediation industry is an example of this activity. This report makes the following recommendations: (1) focused efforts to develop validated documented software for seismological computations should be supported, with special emphasis on scalable algorithms for parallel processors; (2) the education of seismologists in high-performance computing technologies and methodologies should be improved; (3) collaborations between seismologists and computational scientists and engineers should be increased; (4) the infrastructure for archiving, disseminating, and processing large volumes of seismological data should be improved.

Architecting Web Sites for High Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arun Iyengar

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Web site applications are some of the most challenging high-performance applications currently being developed and deployed. The challenges emerge from the specific combination of high variability in workload characteristics and of high performance demands regarding the service level, scalability, availability, and costs. In recent years, a large body of research has addressed the Web site application domain, and a host of innovative software and hardware solutions have been proposed and deployed. This paper is an overview of recent solutions concerning the architectures and the software infrastructures used in building Web site applications. The presentation emphasizes three of the main functions in a complex Web site: the processing of client requests, the control of service levels, and the interaction with remote network caches.

The registration of non-cooperative moving targets laser point cloud in different view point

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuai; Sun, Huayan; Guo, Huichao

2018-01-01

Non-cooperative moving target multi-view cloud registration is the key technology of 3D reconstruction of laser threedimension imaging. The main problem is that the density changes greatly and noise exists under different acquisition conditions of point cloud. In this paper, firstly, the feature descriptor is used to find the most similar point cloud, and then based on the registration algorithm of region segmentation, the geometric structure of the point is extracted by the geometric similarity between point and point, The point cloud is divided into regions based on spectral clustering, feature descriptors are created for each region, searching to find the most similar regions in the most similar point of view cloud, and then aligning the pair of point clouds by aligning their minimum bounding boxes. Repeat the above steps again until registration of all point clouds is completed. Experiments show that this method is insensitive to the density of point clouds and performs well on the noise of laser three-dimension imaging.

3D Maize Plant Reconstruction Based on Georeferenced Overlapping LiDAR Point Clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Garrido

2015-12-01

Full Text Available 3D crop reconstruction with a high temporal resolution and by the use of non-destructive measuring technologies can support the automation of plant phenotyping processes. Thereby, the availability of such 3D data can give valuable information about the plant development and the interaction of the plant genotype with the environment. This article presents a new methodology for georeferenced 3D reconstruction of maize plant structure. For this purpose a total station, an IMU, and several 2D LiDARs with different orientations were mounted on an autonomous vehicle. By the multistep methodology presented, based on the application of the ICP algorithm for point cloud fusion, it was possible to perform the georeferenced point clouds overlapping. The overlapping point cloud algorithm showed that the aerial points (corresponding mainly to plant parts were reduced to 1.5%–9% of the total registered data. The remaining were redundant or ground points. Through the inclusion of different LiDAR point of views of the scene, a more realistic representation of the surrounding is obtained by the incorporation of new useful information but also of noise. The use of georeferenced 3D maize plant reconstruction at different growth stages, combined with the total station accuracy could be highly useful when performing precision agriculture at the crop plant level.

Performance of Cubic Eos At High Pressures Performance des équations d'état cubiques à hautes pressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stamataki S.

2006-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an evaluation of the performance of cubic equations of state in the prediction of the phase behavior of hyperbaric mixtures. It points out a number of problems that should be resolved in a cooperative way. Items related to EoS parameter definitions such as interaction coefficients, critical properties of hydrocarbon compounds and volume translation are investigated. VLE experimental data, isothermal flash compositional and volumetric data up to 4000 bar as well as PVT data up to 2000 bar for binary mixtures and synthetic multicomponent systems have been considered in this study. Correlation and prediction results are presented with the translated and modified Peng-Robinson (t-mPR EoS. It is shown that serious problems are encountered at high pressure, when extrapolated interaction coefficients are used. Prediction of saturation pressures of gas condensates is more satisfactory when binary interaction parameters are obtained from high pressure dew point correlations. Compositional and volumetric predictions are remarkable under the assumption that definition of the EoS parameters is based on high pressure VLE binary data. Contradictory results are obtained with different methods for estimating the critical properties of high molecular weight hydrocarbons. Generalized expressions for the volume translation appear to be very efficient even at very high temperatures and pressures (up to 2000 bar. Cet article présente une évaluation des performances des équations d'états (EoS cubiques pour la prévision des comportements de phases des mélanges hyperbares. Il met en évidence un certain nombre de problèmes auxquels il devrait être répondu d'une manière coopérative. Les points relatifs à la définition des paramètres des EoS, tels que les coefficients d'interaction, les propriétés critiques des composants hydrocarbonés et la translation de volume sont examinés. Plusieurs types d'informations ont été pris en compte

High Intensity Interval Training Improves Physical Performance and Frailty in Aged Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Seldeen, Kenneth Ladd; Lasky, Ginger; Leiker, Merced Marie; Pang, Manhui; Personius, Kirkwood Ely; Troen, Bruce Robert

2018-03-14

Sarcopenia and frailty are highly prevalent in older individuals, increasing the risk of disability and loss of independence. High intensity interval training (HIIT) may provide a robust intervention for both sarcopenia and frailty by achieving both strength and endurance benefits with lower time commitments than other exercise regimens. To better understand the impacts of HIIT during aging, we compared 24-month-old C57BL/6J sedentary mice with those that were administered 10-minute uphill treadmill HIIT sessions three times per week over 16 weeks. Baseline and end point assessments included body composition, physical performance, and frailty based on criteria from the Fried physical frailty scale. HIIT-trained mice demonstrated dramatic improvement in grip strength (HIIT 10.9% vs -3.9% in sedentary mice), treadmill endurance (32.6% vs -2.0%), and gait speed (107.0% vs 39.0%). Muscles from HIIT mice also exhibited greater mass, larger fiber size, and an increase in mitochondrial biomass. Furthermore, HIIT exercise led to a dramatic reduction in frailty scores in five of six mice that were frail or prefrail at baseline, with four ultimately becoming nonfrail. The uphill treadmill HIIT exercise sessions were well tolerated by aged mice and led to performance gains, improvement in underlying muscle physiology, and reduction in frailty.

Performance and endurance of a high temperature PEM fuel cell operated on methanol reformate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Araya, Samuel Simon; Grigoras, Ionela; Zhou, Fan

2014-01-01

This paper analyzes the effects of methanol and water vapor on the performance of a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) at varying temperatures, ranging from 140 °C to 180 °C. For the study, a H3PO4 – doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) – based membrane electrode assembly (MEA......) of 45 cm2 active surface area from BASF was employed. The study showed overall negligible effects of methanol-water vapor mixture slips on performance, even at relatively low simulated steam methanol reforming conversion of 90%, which corresponds to 3% methanol vapor by volume in the anode gas feed....... Temperature on the other hand has significant impact on the performance of an HT-PEMFC. To assess the effects of methanol-water vapor mixture alone, CO2 and CO are not considered in these tests. The analysis is based on polarization curves and impedance spectra registered for all the test points. After...

Development of a high performance liquid chromatography method ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Development of a high performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous ... Purpose: To develop and validate a new low-cost high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for ..... Several papers have reported the use of ...

Toward a theory of high performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirby, Julia

2005-01-01

What does it mean to be a high-performance company? The process of measuring relative performance across industries and eras, declaring top performers, and finding the common drivers of their success is such a difficult one that it might seem a fool's errand to attempt. In fact, no one did for the first thousand or so years of business history. The question didn't even occur to many scholars until Tom Peters and Bob Waterman released In Search of Excellence in 1982. Twenty-three years later, we've witnessed several more attempts--and, just maybe, we're getting closer to answers. In this reported piece, HBR senior editor Julia Kirby explores why it's so difficult to study high performance and how various research efforts--including those from John Kotter and Jim Heskett; Jim Collins and Jerry Porras; Bill Joyce, Nitin Nohria, and Bruce Roberson; and several others outlined in a summary chart-have attacked the problem. The challenge starts with deciding which companies to study closely. Are the stars the ones with the highest market caps, the ones with the greatest sales growth, or simply the ones that remain standing at the end of the game? (And when's the end of the game?) Each major study differs in how it defines success, which companies it therefore declares to be worthy of emulation, and the patterns of activity and attitude it finds in common among them. Yet, Kirby concludes, as each study's method incrementally solves problems others have faced, we are progressing toward a consensus theory of high performance.

Development of high performance cladding materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jeong Yong; Jeong, Y. H.; Park, S. Y.

2010-04-01

The irradiation test for HANA claddings conducted and a series of evaluation for next-HANA claddings as well as their in-pile and out-of pile performances tests were also carried out at Halden research reactor. The 6th irradiation test have been completed successfully in Halden research reactor. As a result, HANA claddings showed high performance, such as corrosion resistance increased by 40% compared to Zircaloy-4. The high performance of HANA claddings in Halden test has enabled lead test rod program as the first step of the commercialization of HANA claddings. DB has been established for thermal and LOCA-related properties. It was confirmed from the thermal shock test that the integrity of HANA claddings was maintained in more expanded region than the criteria regulated by NRC. The manufacturing process of strips was established in order to apply HANA alloys, which were originally developed for the claddings, to the spacer grids. 250 kinds of model alloys for the next-generation claddings were designed and manufactured over 4 times and used to select the preliminary candidate alloys for the next-generation claddings. The selected candidate alloys showed 50% better corrosion resistance and 20% improved high temperature oxidation resistance compared to the foreign advanced claddings. We established the manufacturing condition controlling the performance of the dual-cooled claddings by changing the reduction rate in the cold working steps

High Performance Polar Decomposition on Distributed Memory Systems

KAUST Repository

Sukkari, Dalal E.

2016-08-08

The polar decomposition of a dense matrix is an important operation in linear algebra. It can be directly calculated through the singular value decomposition (SVD) or iteratively using the QR dynamically-weighted Halley algorithm (QDWH). The former is difficult to parallelize due to the preponderant number of memory-bound operations during the bidiagonal reduction. We investigate the latter scenario, which performs more floating-point operations but exposes at the same time more parallelism, and therefore, runs closer to the theoretical peak performance of the system, thanks to more compute-bound matrix operations. Profiling results show the performance scalability of QDWH for calculating the polar decomposition using around 9200 MPI processes on well and ill-conditioned matrices of 100K×100K problem size. We study then the performance impact of the QDWH-based polar decomposition as a pre-processing step toward calculating the SVD itself. The new distributed-memory implementation of the QDWH-SVD solver achieves up to five-fold speedup against current state-of-the-art vendor SVD implementations. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.

Clinical performance of a new point-of-care cardiac troponin I test.

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Michael; Geier, Felicitas; Blaschke, Sabine; Giannitsis, Evangelos; Khellaf, Mehdi; Mair, Johannes; Pariente, David; Scharnhorst, Volkher; Semjonow, Veronique; Hausfater, Pierre

2018-04-09

We evaluated the clinical performance of the Minicare cardiac troponin-I (cTnI), a new point-of-care (POC) cTnI test for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a prospective, multicentre study (ISRCTN77371338). Of 474 patients (≥18 years) admitted to an emergency department (ED) or chest pain unit (CPU) with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome (ACS; ≤12 h from symptom onset), 465 were eligible. Minicare cTnI was tested immediately, 3 h and 6 h after presentation. AMI diagnoses were adjudicated independently based on current guidelines. The diagnostic performance of the Minicare cTnI test at 3 h was similar for whole blood and in plasma: sensitivity 0.92 vs. 0.90; specificity 0.91 vs. 0.90; positive predictive value (PPV) 0.68 vs. 0.66; negative predictive value (NPV) 0.98 vs. 0.98; positive likelihood ratio (LR+) 10.18 vs. 9.41; negative likelihood ratio (LR-) 0.09 vs. 0.11. The optimal diagnostic performance was obtained at 3 h using cut-offs cTnI >43 ng/L plus cTnI change from admission ≥18.5 ng/L: sensitivity 0.90, specificity 0.96, PPV 0.81, NPV 0.98, and LR+ 21.54. The area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve for cTnI whole blood baseline value and absolute change after 3 h curve was 0.93. These data support the clinical usefulness of Minicare cTnI within a 0 h/3 h-blood sampling protocol supported by current guidelines for the evaluation of suspected ACS.

On the performance of a high head Francis turbine at design and off-design conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aakti, B; Amstutz, O; Casartelli, E; Romanelli, G; Mangani, L

2015-01-01

In the present paper, fully 360 degrees transient and steady-state simulations of a Francis turbine were performed at three operating conditions, namely at part load (PL), best efficiency point (BEP), and high load (HL), using different numerical approaches for the pressure-velocity coupling. The simulation domain includes the spiral casing with stay and guide vanes, the runner and the draft tube. The main target of the investigations is the numerical prediction of the overall performance of the high head Francis turbine model as well as local and integral quantities of the complete machine in different operating conditions. All results were compared with experimental data published by the workshop organization. All CFD simulations were performed at model scale with a new in-house, 3D, unstructured, object-oriented finite volume code within the framework of the open source OpenFOAM library. The novel fully coupled pressure-based solver is designed to solve the incompressible RANS- Equations and is capable of handling multiple references of frame (MRF). The obtained results show that the overall performance is well captured by the simulations. Regarding the local flow distributions within the inlet section of the draft-tube, the axial velocity is better estimated than the circumferential component

Improving Performance of Software Implemented Floating Point Addition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hindborg, Andreas Erik; Karlsson, Sven

2011-01-01

We outline and evaluate hardware extensions to an integer processor pipeline which allow IEEE 754 oating point, FP, addition to be eciently implemented in software. With a very moderate increase in hardware resources, our perfor- mance evaluation shows that, for a benchmark that executes 12.5% FP...... addition instructions, our approach exhibits a rel- ative slowdown of 3.38 to 15.15 as compared to dedicated hardware. This is a signicant improvement of pure software emulation which leads to relative slowdowns up to 45.33....

Rapid Point-of-Care Diagnostic Test for Syphilis in High-Risk Populations, Manaus, Brazil

OpenAIRE

Sabid?, Meritxell; Benzaken, Adele S.; de Andrade Rodrigues, ?nio Jos?; Mayaud, Philippe

2009-01-01

: We assessed the acceptability and operational suitability of a rapid point-of-care syphilis test and identified barriers to testing among high-risk groups and healthcare professionals in a sexually transmitted infections clinic in Manaus, Brazil. Use of this test could considerably alleviate the impact of syphilis in hard-to-reach populations in the Amazon region of Brazil.

Triana Safehold: A New Gyroless, Sun-Pointing Attitude Controller

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J.; Morgenstern, Wendy; Garrick, Joseph

2001-01-01

Triana is a single-string spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit about the sun-earth Ll Lagrangian point. The Attitude Control Subsystem (ACS) hardware includes four reaction wheels, ten thrusters, six coarse sun sensors, a star tracker, and a three-axis Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU). The ACS Safehold design features a gyroless sun-pointing control scheme using only sun sensors and wheels. With this minimum hardware approach, Safehold increases mission reliability in the event of a gyroscope anomaly. In place of the gyroscope rate measurements, Triana Safehold uses wheel tachometers to help provide a scaled estimation of the spacecraft body rate about the sun vector. Since Triana nominally performs momentum management every three months, its accumulated system momentum can reach a significant fraction of the wheel capacity. It is therefore a requirement for Safehold to maintain a sun-pointing attitude even when the spacecraft system momentum is reasonably large. The tachometer sun-line rate estimation enables the controller to bring the spacecraft close to its desired sun-pointing attitude even with reasonably high system momentum and wheel drags. This paper presents the design rationale behind this gyroless controller, stability analysis, and some time-domain simulation results showing performances with various initial conditions. Finally, suggestions for future improvements are briefly discussed.

INVIVO 31P MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY (MRS) OF TENDER POINTS IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DEBLECOURT, AC; WOLF, RF; VANRIJSWIJK, MH; KAMMAN, RL; KNIPPING, AA; MOOYAART, EL

1991-01-01

31P Magnetic Resonance-Spectroscopy was performed at the site of tender points in the trapezius muscle of patients with primary fibromyalgia syndrome. Earlier, in vitro studies have reported changes in the high energy phosphate-metabolism in biopsies taken from tender points of fibromyalgia

The Sun-Earth saddle point: characterization and opportunities to test general relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Topputo, Francesco; Dei Tos, Diogene A.; Rasotto, Mirco; Nakamiya, Masaki

2018-04-01

The saddle points are locations where the net gravitational accelerations balance. These regions are gathering more attention within the astrophysics community. Regions about the saddle points present clean, close-to-zero background acceleration environments where possible deviations from General Relativity can be tested and quantified. Their location suggests that flying through a saddle point can be accomplished by leveraging highly nonlinear orbits. In this paper, the geometrical and dynamical properties of the Sun-Earth saddle point are characterized. A systematic approach is devised to find ballistic orbits that experience one or multiple passages through this point. A parametric analysis is performed to consider spacecraft initially on L_{1,2} Lagrange point orbits. Sun-Earth saddle point ballistic fly-through trajectories are evaluated and classified for potential use. Results indicate an abundance of short-duration, regular solutions with a variety of characteristics.

Active point out-of-plane ultrasound calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Alexis; Guo, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Haichong K.; Kang, Hyunjae; Etienne-Cummings, Ralph; Boctor, Emad M.

2015-03-01

Image-guided surgery systems are often used to provide surgeons with informational support. Due to several unique advantages such as ease of use, real-time image acquisition, and no ionizing radiation, ultrasound is a common intraoperative medical imaging modality used in image-guided surgery systems. To perform advanced forms of guidance with ultrasound, such as virtual image overlays or automated robotic actuation, an ultrasound calibration process must be performed. This process recovers the rigid body transformation between a tracked marker attached to the transducer and the ultrasound image. Point-based phantoms are considered to be accurate, but their calibration framework assumes that the point is in the image plane. In this work, we present the use of an active point phantom and a calibration framework that accounts for the elevational uncertainty of the point. Given the lateral and axial position of the point in the ultrasound image, we approximate a circle in the axial-elevational plane with a radius equal to the axial position. The standard approach transforms all of the imaged points to be a single physical point. In our approach, we minimize the distances between the circular subsets of each image, with them ideally intersecting at a single point. We simulated in noiseless and noisy cases, presenting results on out-of-plane estimation errors, calibration estimation errors, and point reconstruction precision. We also performed an experiment using a robot arm as the tracker, resulting in a point reconstruction precision of 0.64mm.

Net vapor generation point in boiling flow of trichlorotrifluoroethane at high pressures

Science.gov (United States)

Dougall, R. S.; Lippert, T. E.

1973-01-01

The conditions at which the void in subcooled boiling starts to undergo a rapid increase were studied experimentally. The experiments were performed in a 12.7 x 9.5 mm rectangular channel. Heating was from a 3.2 mm wide strip embedded in one wall. The pressure ranged from 9.45 to 20.7 bar, mass velocity from 600 to 7000 kg/sq m sec, and subcooling from 16 to 67 C. Photographs were used to determine when detached bubbles first appeared in the bulk flow. Measurements of bubble layer thickness along the wall were also made. Results showed that the point of net vapor generation is close to the occurrence of fully-developed boiling.

Arsenic speciation in edible alga samples by microwave-assisted extraction and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia-Salgado, S. [Departamento de Ingenieria Civil: Tecnologia Hidraulica y Energetica, Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica de Obras Publicas, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Alfonso XII 3 y 5, 28014 Madrid (Spain); Quijano, M.A., E-mail: marian.quijano@upm.es [Departamento de Ingenieria Civil: Tecnologia Hidraulica y Energetica, Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica de Obras Publicas, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Alfonso XII 3 y 5, 28014 Madrid (Spain); Bonilla, M.M. [Departamento de Ingenieria Civil: Tecnologia Hidraulica y Energetica, Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica de Obras Publicas, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Alfonso XII 3 y 5, 28014 Madrid (Spain)

2012-02-10

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Total As and As species were analyzed in edible marine algae. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A microwave-assisted extraction method with deionized water was applied. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer As compounds identified comprised DMA, As(V) and four arsenosugars Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Considerably high As(V) concentrations were found in the most of the algae studied. - Abstract: Twelve commercially available edible marine algae from France, Japan and Spain and the certified reference material (CRM) NIES No. 9 Sargassum fulvellum were analyzed for total arsenic and arsenic species. Total arsenic concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) after microwave digestion and ranged from 23 to 126 {mu}g g{sup -1}. Arsenic species in alga samples were extracted with deionized water by microwave-assisted extraction and showed extraction efficiencies from 49 to 98%, in terms of total arsenic. The presence of eleven arsenic species was studied by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet photo-oxidation-hydride generation atomic-fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-(UV)-HG-AFS) developed methods, using both anion and cation exchange chromatography. Glycerol and phosphate sugars were found in all alga samples analyzed, at concentrations between 0.11 and 22 {mu}g g{sup -1}, whereas sulfonate and sulfate sugars were only detected in three of them (0.6-7.2 {mu}g g{sup -1}). Regarding arsenic toxic species, low concentration levels of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (<0.9 {mu}g g{sup -1}) and generally high arsenate (As(V)) concentrations (up to 77 {mu}g g{sup -1}) were found in most of the algae studied. The results obtained are of interest to highlight the need to perform speciation analysis and to introduce appropriate legislation to limit toxic arsenic species content in these food products.

High-Performance Monitoring Architecture for Large-Scale Distributed Systems Using Event Filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Maly, K.

1998-01-01

Monitoring is an essential process to observe and improve the reliability and the performance of large-scale distributed (LSD) systems. In an LSD environment, a large number of events is generated by the system components during its execution or interaction with external objects (e.g. users or processes). Monitoring such events is necessary for observing the run-time behavior of LSD systems and providing status information required for debugging, tuning and managing such applications. However, correlated events are generated concurrently and could be distributed in various locations in the applications environment which complicates the management decisions process and thereby makes monitoring LSD systems an intricate task. We propose a scalable high-performance monitoring architecture for LSD systems to detect and classify interesting local and global events and disseminate the monitoring information to the corresponding end- points management applications such as debugging and reactive control tools to improve the application performance and reliability. A large volume of events may be generated due to the extensive demands of the monitoring applications and the high interaction of LSD systems. The monitoring architecture employs a high-performance event filtering mechanism to efficiently process the large volume of event traffic generated by LSD systems and minimize the intrusiveness of the monitoring process by reducing the event traffic flow in the system and distributing the monitoring computation. Our architecture also supports dynamic and flexible reconfiguration of the monitoring mechanism via its Instrumentation and subscription components. As a case study, we show how our monitoring architecture can be utilized to improve the reliability and the performance of the Interactive Remote Instruction (IRI) system which is a large-scale distributed system for collaborative distance learning. The filtering mechanism represents an Intrinsic component integrated

Trans-Z-source and Γ-Z-source neutral-point-clamped inverters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wei, Mo; Loh, Poh Chiang; Blaabjerg, Frede

2015-01-01

Z-source neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverters are earlier proposed for obtaining voltage buck-boost and three-level switching simultaneously. Their performances are, however, constrained by a trade-off between their input-to-output gain and modulation ratio. This trade-off can lead to high...

CONTOURS BASED APPROACH FOR THERMAL IMAGE AND TERRESTRIAL POINT CLOUD REGISTRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bennis

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Building energetic performances strongly depend on the thermal insulation. However the performance of the insulation materials tends to decrease over time which necessitates the continuous monitoring of the building in order to detect and repair the anomalous zones. In this paper, it is proposed to couple 2D infrared images representing the surface temperature of the building with 3D point clouds acquired with Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS resulting in a semi-automatic approach allowing the texturation of TLS data with infrared image of buildings. A contour-based algorithm is proposed whose main features are : 1 the extraction of high level primitive is not required 2 the use of projective transform allows to handle perspective effects 3 a point matching refinement procedure allows to cope with approximate control point selection. The procedure is applied to test modules aiming at investigating the thermal properties of material.

New fixed-point mini-cell to investigate thermocouple drift in a high-temperature environment under neutron irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laurie, M.; Vlahovic, L.; Rondinella, V.V. [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, D-76125 Karlsruhe, (Germany); Sadli, M.; Failleau, G. [Laboratoire Commun de Metrologie, LNE-Cnam, Saint-Denis, (France); Fuetterer, M.; Lapetite, J.M. [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy and Transport, P.O. Box 2, NL-1755 ZG Petten, (Netherlands); Fourrez, S. [Thermocoax, 8 rue du pre neuf, F-61100 St Georges des Groseillers, (France)

2015-07-01

Temperature measurements in the nuclear field require a high degree of reliability and accuracy. Despite their sheathed form, thermocouples subjected to nuclear radiations undergo changes due to radiation damage and transmutation that lead to significant EMF drift during long-term fuel irradiation experiment. For the purpose of a High Temperature Reactor fuel irradiation to take place in the High Flux Reactor Petten, a dedicated fixed-point cell was jointly developed by LNE-Cnam and JRC-IET. The developed cell to be housed in the irradiation rig was tailor made to quantify the thermocouple drift during the irradiation (about two year duration) and withstand high temperature (in the range 950 deg. C - 1100 deg. C) in the presence of contaminated helium in a graphite environment. Considering the different levels of temperature achieved in the irradiation facility and the large palette of thermocouple types aimed at surveying the HTR fuel pebble during the qualification test both copper (1084.62 deg. C) and gold (1064.18 deg. C) fixed-point materials were considered. The aim of this paper is to first describe the fixed-point mini-cell designed to be embedded in the reactor rig and to discuss the preliminary results achieved during some out of pile tests as much as some robustness tests representative of the reactor scram scenarios. (authors)

Automated calculation of point A coordinates for CT-based high-dose-rate brachytherapy of cervical cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyejoo Kang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The goal is to develop a stand-alone application, which automatically and consistently computes the coordinates of the dose calculation point recommended by the American Brachytherapy Society (i.e., point A based solely on the implanted applicator geometry for cervical cancer brachytherapy. Material and methods: The application calculates point A coordinates from the source dwell geometries in the computed tomography (CT scans, and outputs the 3D coordinates in the left and right directions. The algorithm was tested on 34 CT scans of 7 patients treated with high-dose-rate (HDR brachytherapy using tandem and ovoid applicators. A single experienced user retrospectively and manually inserted point A into each CT scan, whose coordinates were used as the “gold standard” for all comparisons. The gold standard was subtracted from the automatically calculated points, a second manual placement by the same experienced user, and the clinically used point coordinates inserted by multiple planners. Coordinate differences and corresponding variances were compared using nonparametric tests. Results: Automatically calculated, manually placed, and clinically used points agree with the gold standard to < 1 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm, respectively. When compared to the gold standard, the average and standard deviation of the 3D coordinate differences were 0.35 ± 0.14 mm from automatically calculated points, 0.38 ± 0.21 mm from the second manual placement, and 0.71 ± 0.44 mm from the clinically used point coordinates. Both the mean and standard deviations of the 3D coordinate differences were statistically significantly different from the gold standard, when point A was placed by multiple users (p < 0.05 but not when placed repeatedly by a single user or when calculated automatically. There were no statistical differences in doses, which agree to within 1-2% on average for all three groups. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the automated algorithm

Downlink Coexistence Performance Assessment and Techniques for WiMAX Services from High Altitude Platform and Terrestrial Deployments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Grace

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We investigate the performance and coexistence techniques for worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX delivered from high altitude platforms (HAPs and terrestrial systems in shared 3.5 GHz frequency bands. The paper shows that it is possible to provide WiMAX services from individual HAP systems. The coexistence performance is evaluated by appropriate choice of parameters, which include the HAP deployment spacing radius, directive antenna beamwidths based on adopted antenna models for HAPs and receivers. Illustrations and comparisons of coexistence techniques, for example, varying the antenna pointing offset, transmitting and receiving antenna beamwidth, demonstrate efficient ways to enhance the HAP system performance while effectively coexisting with terrestrial WiMAX systems.

High performance computing in Windows Azure cloud

OpenAIRE

Ambruš, Dejan

2013-01-01

High performance, security, availability, scalability, flexibility and lower costs of maintenance have essentially contributed to the growing popularity of cloud computing in all spheres of life, especially in business. In fact cloud computing offers even more than this. With usage of virtual computing clusters a runtime environment for high performance computing can be efficiently implemented also in a cloud. There are many advantages but also some disadvantages of cloud computing, some ...

Teaching grasping points using natural movements

OpenAIRE

Isleyici, Yalim

2014-01-01

Research about tasks that robotic maids should be able to perform is an emerging research area such as cooking and cleaning. Among them, manipulation of clothes is one of the hardest tasks due to the fact that textile is highly deformable and it is hard to model a good grasping point on them. In literature there are certain algorithms depending on 3D information of the cloth but most of them are not robust. Among them, Fast Integral Normal 3D (FINDDD) descriptors is a promising way for ...

High Performance Work System, HRD Climate and Organisational Performance: An Empirical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Muduli, Ashutosh

2015-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to study the relationship between high-performance work system (HPWS) and organizational performance and to examine the role of human resource development (HRD) Climate in mediating the relationship between HPWS and the organizational performance in the context of the power sector of India. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Short pulse, high resolution, backlighters for point projection high-energy radiography at the National Ignition Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Tommasini, R.; Bailey, C.; Bradley, D. K.; Bowers, M.; Chen, H.; Di Nicola, J. M.; Di Nicola, P.; Gururangan, G.; Hall, G. N.; Hardy, C. M.; Hargrove, D.; Hermann, M.; Hohenberger, M.; Holder, J. P.; Hsing, W.; Izumi, N.; Kalantar, D.; Khan, S.; Kroll, J.; Landen, O. L.; Lawson, J.; Martinez, D.; Masters, N.; Nafziger, J. R.; Nagel, S. R.; Nikroo, A.; Okui, J.; Palmer, D.; Sigurdsson, R.; Vonhof, S.; Wallace, R. J.; Zobrist, T.

2017-05-01

High-resolution, high-energy X-ray backlighters are very active area of research for radiography experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [Miller et al., Nucl. Fusion 44, S228 (2004)], in particular those aiming at obtaining Compton-scattering produced radiographs from the cold, dense fuel surrounding the hot spot. We report on experiments to generate and characterize point-projection-geometry backlighters using short pulses from the advanced radiographic capability (ARC) [Crane et al., J. Phys. 244, 032003 (2010); Di Nicola et al., Proc. SPIE 2015, 93450I-12], at the NIF, focused on Au micro-wires. We show the first hard X-ray radiographs, at photon energies exceeding 60 keV, of static objects obtained with 30 ps-long ARC laser pulses, and the measurements of strength of the X-ray emission, the pulse duration and the source size of the Au micro-wire backlighters. For the latter, a novel technique has been developed and successfully applied.

Development and Performance Verification of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in High Temperature Engine Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Adamovsky, Grigory; Mackey, Jeffrey R.; Kren, Lawrence A.; Floyd, Bertram M.; Elam, Kristie A.; Martinez, Martel

2014-01-01

A High Temperature Fiber Optic Sensor (HTFOS) has been developed at NASA Glenn Research Center for aircraft engine applications. After fabrication and preliminary in-house performance evaluation, the HTFOS was tested in an engine environment at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. The engine tests enabled the performance of the HTFOS in real engine environments to be evaluated along with the ability of the sensor to respond to changes in the engine's operating condition. Data were collected prior, during, and after each test in order to observe the change in temperature from ambient to each of the various test point levels. An adequate amount of data was collected and analyzed to satisfy the research team that HTFOS operates properly while the engine was running. Temperature measurements made by HTFOS while the engine was running agreed with those anticipated.

Governance among Malaysian high performing companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asri Marsidi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Well performed companies have always been linked with effective governance which is generally reflected through effective board of directors. However many issues concerning the attributes for effective board of directors remained unresolved. Nowadays diversity has been perceived as able to influence the corporate performance due to the likelihood of meeting variety of needs and demands from diverse customers and clients. The study therefore aims to provide a fundamental understanding on governance among high performing companies in Malaysia.

Comparison of Dose When Prescribed to Point A and Point H for Brachytherapy in Cervical Cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gang, Ji Hyeong; Gim, Il Hwan; Hwang, Seon Boong; Kim, Woong; Im, Hyeong Seo; Gang, Jin Mook; Gim, Gi Hwan; Lee, Ah Ram [Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seou (Korea, Republic of)

2012-09-15

The purpose of this study is to compare plans prescribed to point A with these prescribed to point H recommended by ABS (American Brachytherapy Society) in high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy for cervical carcinoma. This study selected 103 patients who received HDR (High Dose Rate) brachytherapy using tandem and ovoids from March 2010 to January 2012. Point A, bladder point, and rectal point conform with Manchester System. Point H conforms with ABS recommendation. Also Sigmoid colon point, and vagina point were established arbitrarily. We examined distance between point A and point H. The percent dose at point A was calculated when 100% dose was prescribed to point H. Additionally, the percent dose at each reference points when dose is prescribed to point H and point A were calculated. The relative dose at point A was lower when point H was located inferior to point A. The relative doses at bladder, rectal, sigmoid colon, and vagina points were higher when point H was located superior to point A, and lower when point H was located inferior to point A. This study found out that as point H got located much superior to point A, the absorbed dose of surrounding normal organs became higher, and as point H got located much inferior to point A, the absorbed dose of surrounding normal organs became lower. This differences dose not seem to affect the treatment. However, we suggest this new point is worth being considered for the treatment of HDR if dose distribution and absorbed dose at normal organs have large differences between prescribed to point A and H.

Powder metallurgical high performance materials. Proceedings. Volume 1: high performance P/M metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kneringer, G.; Roedhammer, P.; Wildner, H.

2001-01-01

The proceedings of this sequence of seminars form an impressive chronicle of the continued progress in the understanding of refractory metals and cemented carbides and in their manufacture and application. There the ingenuity and assiduous work of thousands of scientists and engineers striving for progress in the field of powder metallurgy is documented in more than 2000 contributions covering some 30000 pages. The 15th Plansee Seminar was convened under the general theme 'Powder Metallurgical High Performance Materials'. Under this broadened perspective the seminar will strive to look beyond the refractory metals and cemented carbides, which remain at its focus, to novel classes of materials, such as intermetallic compounds, with potential for high temperature applications. (author)

Powder metallurgical high performance materials. Proceedings. Volume 1: high performance P/M metals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kneringer, G; Roedhammer, P; Wildner, H [eds.

2001-07-01

The proceedings of this sequence of seminars form an impressive chronicle of the continued progress in the understanding of refractory metals and cemented carbides and in their manufacture and application. There the ingenuity and assiduous work of thousands of scientists and engineers striving for progress in the field of powder metallurgy is documented in more than 2000 contributions covering some 30000 pages. The 15th Plansee Seminar was convened under the general theme 'Powder Metallurgical High Performance Materials'. Under this broadened perspective the seminar will strive to look beyond the refractory metals and cemented carbides, which remain at its focus, to novel classes of materials, such as intermetallic compounds, with potential for high temperature applications. (author)

High-Speed, High-Performance DQPSK Optical Links with Reduced Complexity VDFE Equalizers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maki Nanou

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Optical transmission technologies optimized for optical network segments sensitive to power consumption and cost, comprise modulation formats with direct detection technologies. Specifically, non-return to zero differential quaternary phase shift keying (NRZ-DQPSK in deployed fiber plants, combined with high-performance, low-complexity electronic equalizers to compensate residual impairments at the receiver end, can be proved as a viable solution for high-performance, high-capacity optical links. Joint processing of the constructive and the destructive signals at the single-ended DQPSK receiver provides improved performance compared to the balanced configuration, however, at the expense of higher hardware requirements, a fact that may not be neglected especially in the case of high-speed optical links. To overcome this bottleneck, the use of partially joint constructive/destructive DQPSK equalization is investigated in this paper. Symbol-by-symbol equalization is performed by means of Volterra decision feedback-type equalizers, driven by a reduced subset of signals selected from the constructive and the destructive ports of the optical detectors. The proposed approach offers a low-complexity alternative for electronic equalization, without sacrificing much of the performance compared to the fully-deployed counterpart. The efficiency of the proposed equalizers is demonstrated by means of computer simulation in a typical optical transmission scenario.

Design of JMTR high-performance fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Fumio; Shimakawa, Satoshi; Komori, Yoshihiro; Tsuchihashi, Keiichiro; Kaminaga, Fumito

1999-01-01

For test and research reactors, the core conversion to low-enriched uranium fuel is required from the viewpoint of non-proliferation of nuclear weapon material. Improvements of core performance are also required in order to respond to recent advanced utilization needs. In order to meet both requirements, a high-performance fuel element of high uranium density with Cd wires as burnable absorbers was adopted for JMTR core conversion to low-enriched uranium fuel. From the result of examination of an adaptability of a few group constants generated by a conventional transport-theory calculation with an isotropic scattering approximation to a few group diffusion-theory core calculation for design of the JMTR high-performance fuel element, it was clear that the depletion of Cd wires was not able to be predicted accurately using group constants generated by the conventional method. Therefore, a new generation method of a few group constants in consideration of an incident neutron spectrum at Cd wire was developed. As the result, the most suitable high-performance fuel element for JMTR was designed successfully, and that allowed extension of operation duration without refueling to almost twice as long and offer of irradiation field with constant neutron flux. (author)

Utilization of the lower inflection point of the pressure-volume curve results in protective conventional ventilation comparable to high frequency oscillatory ventilation in an animal model of acute respiratory distress syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe S. Rossi

2008-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Studies comparing high frequency oscillatory and conventional ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome have used low values of positive end-expiratory pressure and identified a need for better recruitment and pulmonary stability with high frequency. OBJECTIVE: To compare conventional and high frequency ventilation using the lower inflection point of the pressure-volume curve as the determinant of positive end-expiratory pressure to obtain similar levels of recruitment and alveolar stability. METHODS: After lung lavage of adult rabbits and lower inflection point determination, two groups were randomized: conventional (positive end-expiratory pressure = lower inflection point; tidal volume=6 ml/kg and high frequency ventilation (mean airway pressures= lower inflection point +4 cmH2O. Blood gas and hemodynamic data were recorded over 4 h. After sacrifice, protein analysis from lung lavage and histologic evaluation were performed. RESULTS: The oxygenation parameters, protein and histological data were similar, except for the fact that significantly more normal alveoli were observed upon protective ventilation. High frequency ventilation led to lower PaCO2 levels. DISCUSSION: Determination of the lower inflection point of the pressure-volume curve is important for setting the minimum end expiratory pressure needed to keep the airways opened. This is useful when comparing different strategies to treat severe respiratory insufficiency, optimizing conventional ventilation, improving oxygenation and reducing lung injury. CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of the lower inflection point of the pressure-volume curve in the ventilation strategies considered in this study resulted in comparable efficacy with regards to oxygenation and hemodynamics, a high PaCO2 level and a lower pH. In addition, a greater number of normal alveoli were found after protective conventional ventilation in an animal model of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

ELMs IN DIII-D HIGH PERFORMANCE DISCHARGES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

TURNBULL, A.D; LAO, L.L; OSBORNE, T.H; SAUTER, O; STRAIT, E.J; TAYLOR, T.S; CHU, M.S; FERRON, J.R; GREENFIELD, C.M; LEONARD, A.W; MILLER, R.L; SNYDER, P.B; WILSON, H.R; ZOHM, H

2003-01-01

A new understanding of edge localized modes (ELMs) in tokamak discharges is emerging [P.B. Snyder, et al., Phys. Plasmas, 9, 2037 (2002)], in which the ELM is an essentially ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instability and the ELM severity is determined by the radial width of the linearly unstable MHD kink modes. A detailed, comparative study of the penetration into the core of the respective linear instabilities in a standard DIII-D ELMing, high confinement mode (H-mode) discharge, with that for two relatively high performance discharges shows that these are also encompassed within the framework of the new model. These instabilities represent the key, limiting factor in extending the high performance of these discharges. In the standard ELMing H-mode, the MHD instabilities are highly localized in the outer few percent flux surfaces and the ELM is benign, causing only a small temporary drop in the energy confinement. In contrast, for both a very high confinement mode (VH-mode) and an H-mode with a broad internal transport barrier (ITB) extending over the entire core and coalesced with the edge transport barrier, the linearly unstable modes penetrate well into the mid radius and the corresponding consequences for global confinement are significantly more severe. The ELM accordingly results in an irreversible loss of the high performance

The path toward HEP High Performance Computing

CERN Document Server

Apostolakis, John; Carminati, Federico; Gheata, Andrei; Wenzel, Sandro

2014-01-01

High Energy Physics code has been known for making poor use of high performance computing architectures. Efforts in optimising HEP code on vector and RISC architectures have yield limited results and recent studies have shown that, on modern architectures, it achieves a performance between 10% and 50% of the peak one. Although several successful attempts have been made to port selected codes on GPUs, no major HEP code suite has a 'High Performance' implementation. With LHC undergoing a major upgrade and a number of challenging experiments on the drawing board, HEP cannot any longer neglect the less-than-optimal performance of its code and it has to try making the best usage of the hardware. This activity is one of the foci of the SFT group at CERN, which hosts, among others, the Root and Geant4 project. The activity of the experiments is shared and coordinated via a Concurrency Forum, where the experience in optimising HEP code is presented and discussed. Another activity is the Geant-V project, centred on th...

Economic study of NHR application on high pour point oil field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Gang; Zhang Zuoyi; Ma Yuanle

1997-01-01

In order to extent the application of NHR (nuclear heating reactor) and cut down the oil production costs, the authors designed different heating disposition by NHR and boiler heating stations in high pour point oil reservoir, total 16.9 km 2 , in Daqing oil field. This work was based on the study of history matching, water flood planning and hot water circulation for the reservoir. The analyzing results show that, the convert heating cost of NHR is a third of boiler's and the net oil production of NHR is 4 times more than the latter. Considering economization and reliability, authors suggest to adopt the scheme of two NHR with one boiler heating station

Association between scores in high school, aptitude and achievement exams and early performance in health science college

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al-Alwan Ibrahim

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This retrospective study was carried out to assess the correlation between admi-ssion criteria to health science colleges, namely, final high school grade and Saudi National Apti-tude and Achievement exams, and early academic performance in these colleges. The study inclu-ded 91 male students studying in the two-year pre-professional program at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Records of these students were used to extract relevant information and their academic performance (based on the grade point average achieved at the end of the first semester of the pre-professional program, which were analytically studied. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the associa-tions between the different scores. SPSS statistical program (version 12.0 was used for data ana-lyses. We found a strong correlation between the academic performance and the Achievement Exam, Aptitude Exam and high school final grade, with Pearson Correlation Coefficients of 0.96, 0.93, 0.87, respectively. The Saudi National Achievement Exam showed the most significant correla-tion. Our results indicate that academic performance showed good correlation with the admission criteria used, namely final high school grade, Saudi National Aptitude and Achievement Exams.

3D printed high performance strain sensors for high temperature applications

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md Taibur; Moser, Russell; Zbib, Hussein M.; Ramana, C. V.; Panat, Rahul

2018-01-01

Realization of high temperature physical measurement sensors, which are needed in many of the current and emerging technologies, is challenging due to the degradation of their electrical stability by drift currents, material oxidation, thermal strain, and creep. In this paper, for the first time, we demonstrate that 3D printed sensors show a metamaterial-like behavior, resulting in superior performance such as high sensitivity, low thermal strain, and enhanced thermal stability. The sensors were fabricated using silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), using an advanced Aerosol Jet based additive printing method followed by thermal sintering. The sensors were tested under cyclic strain up to a temperature of 500 °C and showed a gauge factor of 3.15 ± 0.086, which is about 57% higher than that of those available commercially. The sensor thermal strain was also an order of magnitude lower than that of commercial gages for operation up to a temperature of 500 °C. An analytical model was developed to account for the enhanced performance of such printed sensors based on enhanced lateral contraction of the NP films due to the porosity, a behavior akin to cellular metamaterials. The results demonstrate the potential of 3D printing technology as a pathway to realize highly stable and high-performance sensors for high temperature applications.

High performance carbon nanocomposites for ultracapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wen

2012-10-02

The present invention relates to composite electrodes for electrochemical devices, particularly to carbon nanotube composite electrodes for high performance electrochemical devices, such as ultracapacitors.

Supernova pointing with low- and high-energy neutrino detectors

CERN Document Server

Tomás, R; Raffelt, Georg G; Kachelriess, M; Dighe, Amol S

2003-01-01

A future galactic SN can be located several hours before the optical explosion through the MeV-neutrino burst, exploiting the directionality of $nu$-$e$-scattering in a water Cherenkov detector such as Super-Kamiokande. We study the statistical efficiency of different methods for extracting the SN direction and identify a simple approach that is nearly optimal, yet independent of the exact SN neutrino spectra. We use this method to quantify the increase in the pointing accuracy by the addition of gadolinium to water, which tags neutrons from the inverse beta decay background. We also study the dependence of the pointing accuracy on neutrino mixing scenarios and initial spectra. We find that in the ``worst case'' scenario the pointing accuracy is $8^circ$ at 95% C.L. in the absence of tagging, which improves to $3^circ$ with a tagging efficiency of 95%. At a megaton detector, this accuracy can be as good as $0.6^circ$. A TeV-neutrino burst is also expected to be emitted contemporaneously with the SN optical ex...

High-Performance Java Codes for Computational Fluid Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Christopher; Chatterjee, Siddhartha; Biswas, Rupak; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The computational science community is reluctant to write large-scale computationally -intensive applications in Java due to concerns over Java's poor performance, despite the claimed software engineering advantages of its object-oriented features. Naive Java implementations of numerical algorithms can perform poorly compared to corresponding Fortran or C implementations. To achieve high performance, Java applications must be designed with good performance as a primary goal. This paper presents the object-oriented design and implementation of two real-world applications from the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): a finite-volume fluid flow solver (LAURA, from NASA Langley Research Center), and an unstructured mesh adaptation algorithm (2D_TAG, from NASA Ames Research Center). This work builds on our previous experience with the design of high-performance numerical libraries in Java. We examine the performance of the applications using the currently available Java infrastructure and show that the Java version of the flow solver LAURA performs almost within a factor of 2 of the original procedural version. Our Java version of the mesh adaptation algorithm 2D_TAG performs within a factor of 1.5 of its original procedural version on certain platforms. Our results demonstrate that object-oriented software design principles are not necessarily inimical to high performance.

THE DESIGN OF A HIGH PERFORMANCE EARTH IMAGERY AND RASTER DATA MANAGEMENT AND PROCESSING PLATFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Xie

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper summarizes the general requirements and specific characteristics of both geospatial raster database management system and raster data processing platform from a domain-specific perspective as well as from a computing point of view. It also discusses the need of tight integration between the database system and the processing system. These requirements resulted in Oracle Spatial GeoRaster, a global scale and high performance earth imagery and raster data management and processing platform. The rationale, design, implementation, and benefits of Oracle Spatial GeoRaster are described. Basically, as a database management system, GeoRaster defines an integrated raster data model, supports image compression, data manipulation, general and spatial indices, content and context based queries and updates, versioning, concurrency, security, replication, standby, backup and recovery, multitenancy, and ETL. It provides high scalability using computer and storage clustering. As a raster data processing platform, GeoRaster provides basic operations, image processing, raster analytics, and data distribution featuring high performance computing (HPC. Specifically, HPC features include locality computing, concurrent processing, parallel processing, and in-memory computing. In addition, the APIs and the plug-in architecture are discussed.

The Design of a High Performance Earth Imagery and Raster Data Management and Processing Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Qingyun

2016-06-01

This paper summarizes the general requirements and specific characteristics of both geospatial raster database management system and raster data processing platform from a domain-specific perspective as well as from a computing point of view. It also discusses the need of tight integration between the database system and the processing system. These requirements resulted in Oracle Spatial GeoRaster, a global scale and high performance earth imagery and raster data management and processing platform. The rationale, design, implementation, and benefits of Oracle Spatial GeoRaster are described. Basically, as a database management system, GeoRaster defines an integrated raster data model, supports image compression, data manipulation, general and spatial indices, content and context based queries and updates, versioning, concurrency, security, replication, standby, backup and recovery, multitenancy, and ETL. It provides high scalability using computer and storage clustering. As a raster data processing platform, GeoRaster provides basic operations, image processing, raster analytics, and data distribution featuring high performance computing (HPC). Specifically, HPC features include locality computing, concurrent processing, parallel processing, and in-memory computing. In addition, the APIs and the plug-in architecture are discussed.

Coexistence Performance of High-Altitude Platform and Terrestrial Systems Using Gigabit Communication Links to Serve Specialist Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Grace

2008-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents three feasible methods to serve specialist users within a service area of up to 150 km diameter by using spot-beam gigabit wireless communication links from high-altitude platforms (HAPs. A single HAP serving multiple spot beams coexists with terrestrial systems, all sharing a common frequency band. The schemes provided in the paper are used to adjust the pointing direction of aperture antennas operating in the mm-wave bands, such that the peak carrier to interference plus noise ratio (CINR is delivered directly toward the location of the specialist users; the schemes include the small step size scheme, half distance scheme, and beam switch scheme. The pointing process is controlled iteratively using the mean distance between the peak CINR locations and user positions. The paper shows that both the small step size and half distance schemes significantly enhance the CINR at the user, but performance is further improved if beams with adverse performance below a specific threshold are switched off, or are assigned another channel.

Coexistence Performance of High-Altitude Platform and Terrestrial Systems Using Gigabit Communication Links to Serve Specialist Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Z

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper presents three feasible methods to serve specialist users within a service area of up to 150 km diameter by using spot-beam gigabit wireless communication links from high-altitude platforms (HAPs. A single HAP serving multiple spot beams coexists with terrestrial systems, all sharing a common frequency band. The schemes provided in the paper are used to adjust the pointing direction of aperture antennas operating in the mm-wave bands, such that the peak carrier to interference plus noise ratio (CINR is delivered directly toward the location of the specialist users; the schemes include the small step size scheme, half distance scheme, and beam switch scheme. The pointing process is controlled iteratively using the mean distance between the peak CINR locations and user positions. The paper shows that both the small step size and half distance schemes significantly enhance the CINR at the user, but performance is further improved if beams with adverse performance below a specific threshold are switched off, or are assigned another channel.

Strategy Guideline: Partnering for High Performance Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prahl, D.

2013-01-01

High performance houses require a high degree of coordination and have significant interdependencies between various systems in order to perform properly, meet customer expectations, and minimize risks for the builder. Responsibility for the key performance attributes is shared across the project team and can be well coordinated through advanced partnering strategies. For high performance homes, traditional partnerships need to be matured to the next level and be expanded to all members of the project team including trades, suppliers, manufacturers, HERS raters, designers, architects, and building officials as appropriate. In an environment where the builder is the only source of communication between trades and consultants and where relationships are, in general, adversarial as opposed to cooperative, the chances of any one building system to fail are greater. Furthermore, it is much harder for the builder to identify and capitalize on synergistic opportunities. Partnering can help bridge the cross-functional aspects of the systems approach and achieve performance-based criteria. Critical success factors for partnering include support from top management, mutual trust, effective and open communication, effective coordination around common goals, team building, appropriate use of an outside facilitator, a partnering charter progress toward common goals, an effective problem-solving process, long-term commitment, continuous improvement, and a positive experience for all involved.

Quantum Accelerators for High-performance Computing Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Humble, Travis S. [ORNL; Britt, Keith A. [ORNL; Mohiyaddin, Fahd A. [ORNL

2017-11-01

We define some of the programming and system-level challenges facing the application of quantum processing to high-performance computing. Alongside barriers to physical integration, prominent differences in the execution of quantum and conventional programs challenges the intersection of these computational models. Following a brief overview of the state of the art, we discuss recent advances in programming and execution models for hybrid quantum-classical computing. We discuss a novel quantum-accelerator framework that uses specialized kernels to offload select workloads while integrating with existing computing infrastructure. We elaborate on the role of the host operating system to manage these unique accelerator resources, the prospects for deploying quantum modules, and the requirements placed on the language hierarchy connecting these different system components. We draw on recent advances in the modeling and simulation of quantum computing systems with the development of architectures for hybrid high-performance computing systems and the realization of software stacks for controlling quantum devices. Finally, we present simulation results that describe the expected system-level behavior of high-performance computing systems composed from compute nodes with quantum processing units. We describe performance for these hybrid systems in terms of time-to-solution, accuracy, and energy consumption, and we use simple application examples to estimate the performance advantage of quantum acceleration.

The Influence of Sub-Block Position on Performing Integrated Sensor Orientation Using In Situ Camera Calibration and Lidar Control Points

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe A. L. Costa

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The accuracy of photogrammetric and Lidar dataset integration is dependent on the quality of a group of parameters that models accurately the conditions of the system at the moment of the survey. In this sense, this paper aims to study the effect of the sub-block position in the entire image block to estimate the interior orientation parameters (IOP in flight conditions to be used in integrated sensor orientation (ISO. For this purpose, five sub-blocks were extracted in different regions of the entire block. Then, in situ camera calibrations were performed using sub-blocks and sets of Lidar control points (LCPs, computed by a three planes’ intersection extracted from the Lidar point cloud on building roofs. The ISO experiments were performed using IOPs from in situ calibrations, the entire image block, and the exterior orientation parameters (EOP from the direct sensor orientation (DSO. Analysis of the results obtained from the ISO experiments performed show that the IOP from the sub-block positioned at the center of the entire image block can be recommended.

High-Performance Management Practices and Employee Outcomes in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cristini, Annalisa; Eriksson, Tor; Pozzoli, Dario

High-performance work practices are frequently considered to have positive effects on corporate performance, but what do they do for employees? After showing that organizational innovation is indeed positively associated with firm performance, we investigate whether high-involvement work practices...

Optical interconnection networks for high-performance computing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biberman, Aleksandr; Bergman, Keren

2012-01-01

Enabled by silicon photonic technology, optical interconnection networks have the potential to be a key disruptive technology in computing and communication industries. The enduring pursuit of performance gains in computing, combined with stringent power constraints, has fostered the ever-growing computational parallelism associated with chip multiprocessors, memory systems, high-performance computing systems and data centers. Sustaining these parallelism growths introduces unique challenges for on- and off-chip communications, shifting the focus toward novel and fundamentally different communication approaches. Chip-scale photonic interconnection networks, enabled by high-performance silicon photonic devices, offer unprecedented bandwidth scalability with reduced power consumption. We demonstrate that the silicon photonic platforms have already produced all the high-performance photonic devices required to realize these types of networks. Through extensive empirical characterization in much of our work, we demonstrate such feasibility of waveguides, modulators, switches and photodetectors. We also demonstrate systems that simultaneously combine many functionalities to achieve more complex building blocks. We propose novel silicon photonic devices, subsystems, network topologies and architectures to enable unprecedented performance of these photonic interconnection networks. Furthermore, the advantages of photonic interconnection networks extend far beyond the chip, offering advanced communication environments for memory systems, high-performance computing systems, and data centers. (review article)

High-performance, stretchable, wire-shaped supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tao; Hao, Rui; Peng, Huisheng; Dai, Liming

2015-01-07

A general approach toward extremely stretchable and highly conductive electrodes was developed. The method involves wrapping a continuous carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film around pre-stretched elastic wires, from which high-performance, stretchable wire-shaped supercapacitors were fabricated. The supercapacitors were made by twisting two such CNT-wrapped elastic wires, pre-coated with poly(vinyl alcohol)/H3PO4 hydrogel, as the electrolyte and separator. The resultant wire-shaped supercapacitors exhibited an extremely high elasticity of up to 350% strain with a high device capacitance up to 30.7 F g(-1), which is two times that of the state-of-the-art stretchable supercapacitor under only 100% strain. The wire-shaped structure facilitated the integration of multiple supercapacitors into a single wire device to meet specific energy and power needs for various potential applications. These supercapacitors can be repeatedly stretched from 0 to 200% strain for hundreds of cycles with no change in performance, thus outperforming all the reported state-of-the-art stretchable electronics. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Highly diverse, massive organic data as explored by a composite QSPR strategy: an advanced study of boiling point.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanova, A A; Ivanov, A A; Oliferenko, A A; Palyulin, V A; Zefirov, N S

2005-06-01

An improved strategy of quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) studies of diverse and inhomogeneous organic datasets has been proposed. A molecular connectivity term was successively corrected for different structural features encoded in fragmental descriptors. The so-called solvation index 1chis (a weighted Randic index) was used as a "leading" variable and standardized molecular fragments were employed as "corrective" class-specific variables. Performance of the new approach was illustrated by modelling a dataset of experimental normal boiling points of 833 organic compounds belonging to 20 structural classes. Firstly, separate QSPR models were derived for each class and for eight groups of structurally similar classes. Finally, a general model formed by combining all the classes together was derived (r2=0.957, s=12.9degreesC). The strategy outlined can find application in QSPR analyses of massive, highly diverse databases of organic compounds.

Micromechanical Models of Mechanical Response of High Performance Fibre Reinforced Cement Composites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, V. C.; Mihashi, H.; Alwan, J.

1996-01-01

generation of FRC with high performance and economical viability, is in sight. However, utilization of micromechanical models for a more comprehensive set of important HPFRCC properties awaits further investigations into fundamental mechanisms governing composite properties, as well as intergrative efforts......The state-of-the-art in micromechanical modeling of the mechanical response of HPFRCC is reviewed. Much advances in modeling has been made over the last decade to the point that certain properties of composites can be carefully designed using the models as analytic tools. As a result, a new...... across responses to different load types. Further, micromechanical models for HPFRCC behavior under complex loading histories, including those in fracture, fatigue and multuaxial loading are urgently needed in order to optimize HPFRCC microstrcuctures and enable predictions of such material in structures...

Vocational Preference Inventory High Point Codes Versus Expressed Choices as Predictors of College Major and Career Entry

Science.gov (United States)

Gade, Eldon M.; Soliah, David

1975-01-01

For 151 male graduates of the University of North Dakota, expressed choices measured by preferences made as high school seniors on the ACT Student Profile Section were significantly more accurate predictors of graduating college major and of career entry occupation than were their Vocational Preference Inventory high point codes. (Author)

Throughput analysis of point-to-multi-point hybric FSO/RF network

KAUST Repository

Rakia, Tamer

2017-07-31

This paper presents and analyzes a point-to-multi-point (P2MP) network that uses a number of free-space optical (FSO) links for data transmission from the central node to the different remote nodes. A common backup radio-frequency (RF) link is used by the central node for data transmission to any remote node in case of the failure of any one of FSO links. We develop a cross-layer Markov chain model to study the throughput from central node to a tagged remote node. Numerical examples are presented to compare the performance of the proposed P2MP hybrid FSO/RF network with that of a P2MP FSO-only network and show that the P2MP Hybrid FSO/RF network achieves considerable performance improvement over the P2MP FSO-only network.

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering '14

CERN Document Server

Kröner, Dietmar; Resch, Michael

2015-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the-art in supercomputer simulation. It includes the latest findings from leading researchers using systems from the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS). The reports cover all fields of computational science and engineering ranging from CFD to computational physics and from chemistry to computer science with a special emphasis on industrially relevant applications. Presenting findings of one of Europe’s leading systems, this volume covers a wide variety of applications that deliver a high level of sustained performance. The book covers the main methods in high-performance computing. Its outstanding results in achieving the best performance for production codes are of particular interest for both scientists and   engineers. The book comes with a wealth of color illustrations and tables of results.  

SiC-CMC-Zircaloy-4 Nuclear Fuel Cladding Performance during 4-Point Tubular Bend Testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

IJ van Rooyen; WR Lloyd; TL Trowbridge; SR Novascone; KM Wendt; SM Bragg-Sitton

2013-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE NE) established the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program to develop technologies and other solutions to improve the reliability, sustain the safety, and extend the life of current reactors. The Advanced LWR Nuclear Fuel Development Pathway in the LWRS program encompasses strategic research focused on improving reactor core economics and safety margins through the development of an advanced fuel cladding system. Recent investigations of potential options for “accident tolerant” nuclear fuel systems point to the potential benefits of silicon carbide (SiC) cladding. One of the proposed SiC-based fuel cladding designs being investigated incorporates a SiC ceramic matrix composite (CMC) as a structural material supplementing an internal Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) liner tube, referred to as the hybrid clad design. Characterization of the advanced cladding designs will include a number of out-of-pile (nonnuclear) tests, followed by in-pile irradiation testing of the most promising designs. One of the out-of-pile characterization tests provides measurement of the mechanical properties of the cladding tube using four point bend testing. Although the material properties of the different subsystems (materials) will be determined separately, in this paper we present results of 4-point bending tests performed on fully assembled hybrid cladding tube mock-ups, an assembled Zr-4 cladding tube mock-up as a standard and initial testing results on bare SiC-CMC sleeves to assist in defining design parameters. The hybrid mock-up samples incorporated SiC-CMC sleeves fabricated with 7 polymer impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP) cycles. To provide comparative information; both 1- and 2-ply braided SiC-CMC sleeves were used in this development study. Preliminary stress simulations were performed using the BISON nuclear fuel performance code to show the stress distribution differences for varying lengths between loading points

Milestone-specific, Observed data points for evaluating levels of performance (MODEL) assessment strategy for anesthesiology residency programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, Christopher J; Fitzgerald, Brian M; Kraus, Gregory P

2014-01-01

Anesthesiology residency programs will be expected to have Milestones-based evaluation systems in place by July 2014 as part of the Next Accreditation System. The San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium (SAUSHEC) anesthesiology residency program developed and implemented a Milestones-based feedback and evaluation system a year ahead of schedule. It has been named the Milestone-specific, Observed Data points for Evaluating Levels of performance (MODEL) assessment strategy. The "MODEL Menu" and the "MODEL Blueprint" are tools that other anesthesiology residency programs can use in developing their own Milestones-based feedback and evaluation systems prior to ACGME-required implementation. Data from our early experience with the streamlined MODEL blueprint assessment strategy showed substantially improved faculty compliance with reporting requirements. The MODEL assessment strategy provides programs with a workable assessment method for residents, and important Milestones data points to programs for ACGME reporting.

Development of an integrated pointing device driver for the disabled.

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Shih, Ching-Tien

2010-01-01

To help people with disabilities such as those with spinal cord injury (SCI) to effectively utilise commercial pointing devices to operate computers. This study proposes a novel method to integrate the functions of commercial pointing devices. Utilising software technology to develop an integrated pointing device driver (IPDD) for a computer operating system. The proposed IPDD has the following benefits: (1) it does not require additional hardware cost or circuit preservations, (2) it supports all standard interfaces of commercial pointing devices, including PS/2, USB and wireless interfaces and (3) it can integrate any number of devices. The IPDD can be selected and combined according to their physical restriction. The IPDD is a novel method of integrating commercial pointing devices. Through IPDD, people with disabilities can choose a suitable combination of commercial pointing devices to achieve full cursor control and optimise operational performance. In contrast with previous studies, the software-based solution does not require additional hardware or circuit preservations, and it can support unlimited devices. In summary, the IPDD has the benefits of flexibility, low cost and high-device compatibility.

Department of Energy research in utilization of high-performance computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buzbee, B.L.; Worlton, W.J.; Michael, G.; Rodrigue, G.

1980-08-01

Department of Energy (DOE) and other Government research laboratories depend on high-performance computer systems to accomplish their programmatic goals. As the most powerful computer systems become available, they are acquired by these laboratories so that advances can be made in their disciplines. These advances are often the result of added sophistication to numerical models, the execution of which is made possible by high-performance computer systems. However, high-performance computer systems have become increasingly complex, and consequently it has become increasingly difficult to realize their potential performance. The result is a need for research on issues related to the utilization of these systems. This report gives a brief description of high-performance computers, and then addresses the use of and future needs for high-performance computers within DOE, the growing complexity of applications within DOE, and areas of high-performance computer systems warranting research. 1 figure

How age affects pointing with mouse and touchpad

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hertzum, Morten; Hornbæk, Kasper

2010-01-01

pointing with mouse and touchpad. The goal is to provide an integrated analysis of (a) how these three age groups differ in pointing performance, (b) how these differences are affected by the two pointing devices, and (c) how the submovement structure of cursor trajectories may explain performance...... neither more nor less errors than young and adult participants. All three age groups were slower and made more errors with the touchpad than the mouse, but the touchpad slowed down elderly participants more than young participants, who in turn were slowed down more than adult participants. Adult......Effects of age on pointing performance have become increasingly important as computers have become extensively used by still larger parts of the population. This study empirically investigates young (12-14 years), adult (25-33 years), and elderly (61-69 years) participants' performance when...

Mechanical Properties of High Performance Cementitious Grout (II)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eigil V.

The present report is an update of the report “Mechanical Properties of High Performance Cementitious Grout (I)” [1] and describes tests carried out on the high performance grout MASTERFLOW 9500, marked “WMG 7145 FP”, developed by BASF Construction Chemicals A/S and designed for use in grouted...

A Linux Workstation for High Performance Graphics

Science.gov (United States)

Geist, Robert; Westall, James

2000-01-01

The primary goal of this effort was to provide a low-cost method of obtaining high-performance 3-D graphics using an industry standard library (OpenGL) on PC class computers. Previously, users interested in doing substantial visualization or graphical manipulation were constrained to using specialized, custom hardware most often found in computers from Silicon Graphics (SGI). We provided an alternative to expensive SGI hardware by taking advantage of third-party, 3-D graphics accelerators that have now become available at very affordable prices. To make use of this hardware our goal was to provide a free, redistributable, and fully-compatible OpenGL work-alike library so that existing bodies of code could simply be recompiled. for PC class machines running a free version of Unix. This should allow substantial cost savings while greatly expanding the population of people with access to a serious graphics development and viewing environment. This should offer a means for NASA to provide a spectrum of graphics performance to its scientists, supplying high-end specialized SGI hardware for high-performance visualization while fulfilling the requirements of medium and lower performance applications with generic, off-the-shelf components and still maintaining compatibility between the two.

Web: A Wireless Experiment Box for the Dextre Pointing Package ELC Payload

Science.gov (United States)

Bleier, Leor Z.; Marrero-Fontanez, Victor J.; Sparacino, Pietro A.; Moreau, Michael C.; Mitchell, Jason W.

2012-01-01

The Wireless Experiment Box (WEB) was proposed to work with the International Space Station (ISS) External Wireless Communication (EWC) system to support high-definition video from the Dextre Pointing Package (DPP). DPP/WEB was a NASA GSFC proposed ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC) payload designed to flight test an integrated suite of Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) technologies to enable a wide spectrum of future missions across NASA and other US Government agencies. The ISS EWC uses COTS Wireless Access Points (WAPs) to provide high-rate bi-directional communications to ISS. In this paper, we discuss WEB s packaging, operation, antenna development, and performance testing.

WEB - A Wireless Experiment Box for the Dextre Pointing Package ELC Payload

Science.gov (United States)

Bleier, Leor Z.; Marrero-Fontanez, Victor J.; Sparacino, Pietro A.; Moreau, Michael C.; Mitchell, Jason William

2012-01-01

The Wireless Experiment Box (WEB) was proposed to work with the International Space Station (ISS) External Wireless Communication (EWC) system to support high-definition video from the Dextre Pointing Package (DPP). DPP/WEB was a NASA GSFC proposed ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC) payload designed to flight test an integrated suite of Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) technologies to enable a wide spectrum of future missions across NASA and other US Government agencies. The ISS EWC uses COTS Wireless Access Points (WAPs) to provide high-rate bi-directional communications to ISS. In this paper, we discuss WEB s packaging, operation, antenna development, and performance testing.

Strategies and Experiences Using High Performance Fortran

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shires, Dale

2001-01-01

.... High performance Fortran (HPF) is a relative new addition to the Fortran dialect It is an attempt to provide an efficient high-level Fortran parallel programming language for the latest generation of been debatable...

Electronic and ionic conductivities and point defects in ytterbium sesquioxide at high temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpentier, J.-L.; Lebrun, A.; Perdu, F.; Tellier, P.

1982-01-01

From the study of complex impedance diagrams applied to a symmetric cell Pt-Yb 2 O 3 -Pt, the authors have shown the mixed character of electrical conduction within the ytterbium sesquioxide. The measurements were performed at thermodynamic equilibrium in the temperature range from 1423 to 1623 K and the partial pressure of oxygen range from 10 -12 to 1 atm. The variations of ionic and electronic conductivity as a function of Psub(O 2 ) were interpreted in terms of four different point defects in the general case of a Frenkel disorder. The relative contributions and the activation energies of conduction of these different defects were determined. (author)

Putting our differences to work the fastest way to innovation, leadership, and high performance

CERN Document Server

Kennedy, Debbe

2008-01-01

In this rapidly changing world, organisations of every type are finding that putting our differences to work is the most powerful accelerator for generating new levels of innovation, energy, leadership and employee engagement needed for high performance. This new book is a practical guide to the strategies and steps needed to make differences the drivers of success. Debbe Kennedy shows that leveraging all the dimensions of difference -- from thinking styles, perspectives, experience, position, goals, competencies, work habits, culture and management style to traditional diversity rubrics such as gender, race, ethnicity, physical abilities, sexual orientation and age -- can accelerate teams' and organisations' performance. Kennedy's book is a practical guide for leaders at all levels that begins with a compelling invitation to pioneer a new era leadership history. It establishes the need for change, sets the course of action, offers proof points and defines five distinctive qualities all leaders need to add to...

Analytical and pre-analytical performance characteristics of a novel cartridge-type blood gas analyzer for point-of-care and laboratory testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyaert, Matthijs; Van Maerken, Tom; Bridts, Silke; Van Loon, Silvi; Laverge, Heleen; Stove, Veronique

2018-03-01

Point-of-care blood gas test results may benefit therapeutic decision making by their immediate impact on patient care. We evaluated the (pre-)analytical performance of a novel cartridge-type blood gas analyzer, the GEM Premier 5000 (Werfen), for the determination of pH, partial carbon dioxide pressure (pCO 2 ), partial oxygen pressure (pO 2 ), sodium (Na + ), potassium (K + ), chloride (Cl - ), ionized calcium ( i Ca 2+ ), glucose, lactate, and total hemoglobin (tHb). Total imprecision was estimated according to the CLSI EP5-A2 protocol. The estimated total error was calculated based on the mean of the range claimed by the manufacturer. Based on the CLSI EP9-A2 evaluation protocol, a method comparison with the Siemens RapidPoint 500 and Abbott i-STAT CG8+ was performed. Obtained data were compared against preset quality specifications. Interference of potential pre-analytical confounders on co-oximetry and electrolyte concentrations were studied. The analytical performance was acceptable for all parameters tested. Method comparison demonstrated good agreement to the RapidPoint 500 and i-STAT CG8+, except for some parameters (RapidPoint 500: pCO 2 , K + , lactate and tHb; i-STAT CG8+: pO 2 , Na + , i Ca 2+ and tHb) for which significant differences between analyzers were recorded. No interference of lipemia or methylene blue on CO-oximetry results was found. On the contrary, significant interference for benzalkonium and hemolysis on electrolyte measurements were found, for which the user is notified by an interferent specific flag. Identification of sample errors from pre-analytical sources, such as interferences and automatic corrective actions, along with the analytical performance, ease of use and low maintenance time of the instrument, makes the evaluated instrument a suitable blood gas analyzer for both POCT and laboratory use. Copyright © 2018 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scalable domain decomposition solvers for stochastic PDEs in high performance computing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desai, Ajit; Pettit, Chris; Poirel, Dominique; Sarkar, Abhijit

2017-01-01

Stochastic spectral finite element models of practical engineering systems may involve solutions of linear systems or linearized systems for non-linear problems with billions of unknowns. For stochastic modeling, it is therefore essential to design robust, parallel and scalable algorithms that can efficiently utilize high-performance computing to tackle such large-scale systems. Domain decomposition based iterative solvers can handle such systems. And though these algorithms exhibit excellent scalabilities, significant algorithmic and implementational challenges exist to extend them to solve extreme-scale stochastic systems using emerging computing platforms. Intrusive polynomial chaos expansion based domain decomposition algorithms are extended here to concurrently handle high resolution in both spatial and stochastic domains using an in-house implementation. Sparse iterative solvers with efficient preconditioners are employed to solve the resulting global and subdomain level local systems through multi-level iterative solvers. We also use parallel sparse matrix–vector operations to reduce the floating-point operations and memory requirements. Numerical and parallel scalabilities of these algorithms are presented for the diffusion equation having spatially varying diffusion coefficient modeled by a non-Gaussian stochastic process. Scalability of the solvers with respect to the number of random variables is also investigated.

Quantitative performance allocation of multi-barrier system for high-level radioactive waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Joon-Hong; Ikeda, Takao; Ohe, Toshiaki

1995-01-01

Performance assessment of each barrier consisting of geologic disposal system for high-level radioactive wastes is carried out quantitatively, and key radionuclides and parameters are pointed out. Chemical compositions and solubilities of radionuclides under repository conditions are determined by PHREEQE code staring from compositions of granitic groundwater observed in Japan. Glass dissolution analysis based on mass transfer theory and precipitation analysis have been done in order to determine the inner boundary condition for radionuclide diffusion through a bentonite-filled buffer region, where multi-member decay chain and isotopic sharing of solubility at the inner boundary are considered. Natural barrier is treated as homogeneous porous rock, or porous rock with infinite planar fractures. Performance of each barrier is evaluated in terms of non-dimensionalized hazard defined as the ratio of annual radioactivity release from each barrier to the annual limit on intake. At the outer edge of the engineered barriers, 239 Pu is the key unclide to the performance, whereas at the exit of the natural barrier, weakly-sorbing fission product nuclides such as 135 Cs, 129 I and 99 Tc dominate the hazard. (author) 50 refs

Dew point fast measurement in organic vapor mixtures using quartz resonant sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Jing; Liu, Jia; Meng, Xiaofeng

2017-01-01

A fast dew point sensor has been developed for organic vapor mixtures by using the quartz crystal with sensitive circuits. The sensor consists of the quartz crystal and a cooler device. Proactive approach is taken to produce condensation on the surface of the quartz crystal, and it will lead to a change in electrical features of the quartz crystal. The cessation of oscillation was measured because this phenomenon is caused by dew condensation. Such a phenomenon can be used to detect the dew point. This method exploits the high sensitivity of the quartz crystal but without frequency measurement and also retains the stability of the resonant circuit. It is strongly anti-interfered. Its performance was evaluated with acetone-methanol mixtures under different pressures. The results were compared with the dew points predicted from the universal quasi-chemical equation to evaluate the performance of the proposed sensor. Though the maximum deviations of the sensor are less than 1.1 °C, it still has a fast response time with a recovery time of less than 10 s, providing an excellent dehumidifying performance.

High performance anode for advanced Li batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lake, Carla [Applied Sciences, Inc., Cedarville, OH (United States)

2015-11-02

The overall objective of this Phase I SBIR effort was to advance the manufacturing technology for ASI’s Si-CNF high-performance anode by creating a framework for large volume production and utilization of low-cost Si-coated carbon nanofibers (Si-CNF) for the battery industry. This project explores the use of nano-structured silicon which is deposited on a nano-scale carbon filament to achieve the benefits of high cycle life and high charge capacity without the consequent fading of, or failure in the capacity resulting from stress-induced fracturing of the Si particles and de-coupling from the electrode. ASI’s patented coating process distinguishes itself from others, in that it is highly reproducible, readily scalable and results in a Si-CNF composite structure containing 25-30% silicon, with a compositionally graded interface at the Si-CNF interface that significantly improve cycling stability and enhances adhesion of silicon to the carbon fiber support. In Phase I, the team demonstrated the production of the Si-CNF anode material can successfully be transitioned from a static bench-scale reactor into a fluidized bed reactor. In addition, ASI made significant progress in the development of low cost, quick testing methods which can be performed on silicon coated CNFs as a means of quality control. To date, weight change, density, and cycling performance were the key metrics used to validate the high performance anode material. Under this effort, ASI made strides to establish a quality control protocol for the large volume production of Si-CNFs and has identified several key technical thrusts for future work. Using the results of this Phase I effort as a foundation, ASI has defined a path forward to commercialize and deliver high volume and low-cost production of SI-CNF material for anodes in Li-ion batteries.

Evaluation of high-performance computing software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Browne, S.; Dongarra, J. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Rowan, T. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1996-12-31

The absence of unbiased and up to date comparative evaluations of high-performance computing software complicates a user`s search for the appropriate software package. The National HPCC Software Exchange (NHSE) is attacking this problem using an approach that includes independent evaluations of software, incorporation of author and user feedback into the evaluations, and Web access to the evaluations. We are applying this approach to the Parallel Tools Library (PTLIB), a new software repository for parallel systems software and tools, and HPC-Netlib, a high performance branch of the Netlib mathematical software repository. Updating the evaluations with feed-back and making it available via the Web helps ensure accuracy and timeliness, and using independent reviewers produces unbiased comparative evaluations difficult to find elsewhere.

High Performance Proactive Digital Forensics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alharbi, Soltan; Traore, Issa; Moa, Belaid; Weber-Jahnke, Jens

2012-01-01

With the increase in the number of digital crimes and in their sophistication, High Performance Computing (HPC) is becoming a must in Digital Forensics (DF). According to the FBI annual report, the size of data processed during the 2010 fiscal year reached 3,086 TB (compared to 2,334 TB in 2009) and the number of agencies that requested Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory assistance increasing from 689 in 2009 to 722 in 2010. Since most investigation tools are both I/O and CPU bound, the next-generation DF tools are required to be distributed and offer HPC capabilities. The need for HPC is even more evident in investigating crimes on clouds or when proactive DF analysis and on-site investigation, requiring semi-real time processing, are performed. Although overcoming the performance challenge is a major goal in DF, as far as we know, there is almost no research on HPC-DF except for few papers. As such, in this work, we extend our work on the need of a proactive system and present a high performance automated proactive digital forensic system. The most expensive phase of the system, namely proactive analysis and detection, uses a parallel extension of the iterative z algorithm. It also implements new parallel information-based outlier detection algorithms to proactively and forensically handle suspicious activities. To analyse a large number of targets and events and continuously do so (to capture the dynamics of the system), we rely on a multi-resolution approach to explore the digital forensic space. Data set from the Honeynet Forensic Challenge in 2001 is used to evaluate the system from DF and HPC perspectives.

Sex Differences in Mathematics Performance among Senior High ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study explored sex differences in mathematics performance of students in the final year of high school and changes in these differences over a 3-year period in Ghana. A convenience sample of 182 students, 109 boys and 72 girls in three high schools in Ghana was used. Mathematics performance was assessed using ...